


The Blossoming of Springtime

by orphan_account



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-10
Updated: 2013-02-16
Packaged: 2017-11-11 20:33:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 30,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/482644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A retelling of the abduction of Persephone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This had been done so many times before that I was half tempted not to bother. Unfortunately, I have no control over what I write, the muses are annoying like that, I bet that even Homer couldn't shake off a persistant plot bunny.
> 
> This is unbeta'd so I apologise for the wanton grammatical butchery.
> 
> Kore means girl.

At sixteen, Kore's mother took her to Mount Olympus for the first time. Before that, life had been a hazy montage of dancing under a warm sun, swimming in clear sparkling pools and Demeter's mellow chuckles.

The Goddess of the harvest deplored the necessity of taking Kore to be presented in the palace of mighty Zeus, particularly at such a busy time of year. Kore's presentation had already been delayed a year longer than was usual however, and it Demeter waited until her sweet child was seventeen summers old, the ever easily offended Olympians would take umbrage. To Olympus they were to go, and it Demeter's only offspring _must_ be paraded around like a sacrificial bull, then it would be done _properly_ with none of the mortifying carousing that she remembered from her own banquet.

She dressed her daughter in her finest chiton, simple sunbleached linen that befitted Kore's youth and innocence. Her dark curls clustered about her head like the petals of a hyacinth. Demeter did not bedeck her daughter in golden jewelery, she herself did not like the feel of the cold metal and surely there was no master craftsman among mortals who could rival the delicate splendour of her own dear flowers.

She might, had she thought to ask, have been disappointed to know that Kore did not share her sentiments. The warm shimmer of gold pleased the maiden, Kore. She could grow the rarest and most perfect of flowers with a little concentration of power but owned nothing that had been so painstakingly crafted as the majestic jewels worn by the other gods in her father's palace.

They reached Olympus in good time and made their stately procession to the throne room. Zeus sat upon his seat of authority at the far end of the pillared court. His head was inclined to his brother Poseidon, mighty ruler of the oceans, but he looked up when a nymph announced that the Lady Demeter had arrived with the honoured Kore. 

The court was bustling with richly clad deities, who ceased their chatter when great Zeus rose from his throne, extending his sceptre to his daughter. She knew what to do, and made her way forward to press her lips to the tip. Zeus was pleased to smile and bid her welcome, in his booming voice, as she curtseyed low. She turned then to Poseidon and repeated her obeisence. Having received the sea-king's gracious nod finally faced the dark King Hades, ruler of the Underworld and the eternity after mortal death. She was too in awe of him to raise her eyes to his, but she heard him quietly accept her homage.

Zeus had turned to speak again to his sea dwelling brother and once again the great palace was filled with chatter.

Kore kept her gaze in the golden sandals of the Rich One, waiting for Demeter to come forward and bear her off. Her mother did not come, a hurried glance told her that Demeter was in deep conversation with Queen Hera, neither goddess appeared pleased.

Hades stood and lifted Kore's chin with a long, pale finger.

'My brother addressed you as Kore. Have you no other name but _girl?'_ He looked directly into her green eyes with his own black fathomless ones. His voice was deep but low in volume- Kore had no difficulty in hearing him. His was the ancient echo of authority, the eldest and most terrible of the great Kings. If he spoke in a _whisper,_ Kore's ears would strain to harken.

'I have no other name, Lord Hades.' His penetrating stare was uncomfortable. She tried a tremulous smile. 'The mortals call me springtime. My Lady mother says that Kore suits me well enough.'

He released her chin and looked to her mother, considering her answer. 'A lack of foresight on my sister's part, then. One day the timid girl will be a woman and then 'Kore' shall not suit.'

He said it lightly enough, but Kore felt a flush creep up her neck. Hades looked on, seemingly fascinated. She pressed her lips together and curtseyed once more to the dour Lord of the dead, who so towered over her. 

'I must not beg your pardon for my name, my Lord- it was my mother's doing and there was little thought of pleasing you when I was born.' It was an impertinant speach but he did not look angry. Instead, he tilted his head slightly and hooded his eyes. 

' _Girl_ suits you well enough for now,' he murmured, cryptically 'perhaps you will aquire a better name in time.' He bent his head to her and in the next instant was gone in a ripple of black silk. 

Demeter laid a hand on her shoulder and Kore jumped. 

'I hope you were polite to Lord Hades, Kore. He left quickly, did he seem displeased with you? He is not one to cross, my daughter.' 

Kore turned, 'I do not think he was _displeased_ , precisely, mother...but I do not think he cares for my name.'

'Your name?' the Goddess of the crops looked startled, 'what interest is your name to him?' She shrugged, 'I'd not fret, Kore. The chances are you'll not lay eyes on him for a century or so- I haven't.'

Demeter was proven wrong, the tall, shadowy figure of the dreaded god of curses was seen at the banquet that evening, he did not attempt conversation with her, but as she sipped at her cup of sweet ambrosia, Kore felt his watchful eyes on her often throughout the evening.

She had a marvellous night, reclined on her left was the demi-god Pirithous who openly admired her blushing face as he told the rapt maiden tales of his mighty deeds. To her right, was the gentle Hephaistus who sternly told Pirithous to keep the bawdier tales for older ears than those of sweet Kore. Hephaistus had a kindly manner about him and Kore listened to his descriptions of the precious things he had made. He laughed softly when she asked if he could create a garden of metal flowers that grew and looked thoughtful when she spoke of Demeter's desire for a horseless chariot. 

By the time rosy fingered dawn swept away the dusky blanket of night, a happy but slightly tipsy Kore skipped down the mountain. Demeter, even more affected by Dionysius' sweet wine than her daughter, followed more sedately. 

Kore hardly minded that the two of them had a long walk home ahead of them, in the fresh air of the early morning it sounded the ideal solution to clearing her head. Demeter however, was not looking forward to it and remarked that Apollo might have offerred to take them home with his splendid horses.

As Kore rounded the last corner of the winding path that led down Olympus' slopes, she was surprised to see the dark figure of Hades standing at the bottom. He casually held the reins of a steaming, stomping set of horses that were straining against the stillness that he imposed on them. 

Kore hesistated and her mother caught up with her.

'Brother! What keeps you so near the mountain? I should have expected that you would be halfway back to the Underworld by now.'

'I would bear you both home in my chariot, if you don't care for the walk.' He spoke to Demeter, but did not take his gaze from Kore. 

Demeter actually smiled warmly at him. 'I thank you, then. Kore here does not mind walking, but after a night of merry making, my poor head was dreading it more than my feet. Come, Kore!' 

Kore eyed the six snorting beasts. 'Is it safe?' She blurted. 

Demeter looked scandalised, 'Kore!'

Hades lifted an eyebrow as Demeter stepped up onto the silver edged conveyance. 'I hope have strength enough to keep my own horses in check.' 

'I did not mean...I'm sorry, I thank you for your kindness. Forgive me!'

'I know, child. It is well. I shall not let you fall.' With that he stepped up behind her and took the reins either side of her waist. Kore was surrounded by his arms and although he did not touch her, she was very aware of him.

Demeter smiled. 'There Kore! 'tis a perfect solution, you cannot possibly be afraid now.'

Could she not indeed? Did her mother think that standing in the arms of the King of the dead was somehow _less_ daunting than falling from a fast moving vehicle? Kore wasn't sure herself. She comforted herself with the knowledge that her mother, even befuddled by wine, would not allow her to come to harm. 

Hades flicked his wrists and the horses surged forward. Kore shut her eyes and clutched the silver edge of the wood that stood between her and the galloping steeds. They picked up speed, until the wind was so loud in her ears that she could hardly make out the short conversation between Demeter and her august sibling.

She could not say how long they sped through the world before reaching the homely meadow in which she had passed so many carefree says. When they came to a smooth half outside Demeter's little cottage, Kore stumbled out of the chariot and emptied the contents of her stomach onto the grass. 

'Kore'!' said her mother, again. 

The maiden sat down amongst the flowers, heaving great gulps of air, uncaring of now her dress might strain or crumple. She glanced at Hades, whose expression was inscrutable.

She lifted the corner of her mouth. 'Thank you for the ride, my Lord.' She said, politely. 'Mother. I think, perhaps that it might be better to _not_ ask Hephastus to fashion us a chariot, I believe walking suits me rather better.'

Demeter sniffed. 'He'd not oblige me anyway, my girl...at least not for any price I was willing to pay.'

On impulse, Kore bent to the ground and touched the fertile earth. She concentrated hard, half heartedly listening to her mother and uncle. A flower sprang up and bloomed at her gentle urging and when it opened It's petals, they were a rich, vibrant purple. 

Hades turned his faced to Demeter, who shifted uncomfortably. 'What did he demand?' He sounded interested and Kore stood closer to hear her mother's reply. 

Demeter's voice turned hard and she looked significantly at her slight daughter. 'Something too precious for a lame _blacksmith_ to posess.'

Kore's eyes widened. 'Mother?' She had not heard such steely contempt Demeter's tone before. She tentatively spoke, 'It...it isn't his fault he's lame...he's a very _good_ craftsman, he makes King Zeus' thunderbolts after all.'

Demeter scowled. 'Are you telling me that you have entertained his suit, girl? Without my knowledge?'

'His suit? Oh no! I only spoke to him at the banquet...he was _kind._ '

Demeter looked likely to rage at her until Hades lifted his palm. 'Enough. She is innocent. I shall speak to our _ambitious_ smithy.'

Kore gaped at him. His voice had changed from a pleasing, smooth rumble to something flinty and terrible. She saw quite clearly why the mortals feared him so much that they did not even speak his name. She herself, a lesser Goddess, was affected and trembling. Demeter put an arm about her shoulders and nodded at Hades.

'Perhaps you are right, my Lord. I shall leave it to you.'

He stepped onto his chariot and very nearly smiled when Kore shuddered. 'Farewell, sister. Blessings to you, my Lady.' 

Kore felt her mother's surprise and sank to low curtsey. 'I wish you a _safe_ journey, sir.' She stepped forward to offerred him the flower, 'Thank you for bringing us home.' Demeter looked proud at her daughters thoughtful manners. Hades took the bloom and stared intently at Kore for so long that she feared that she had offended the Rich One with her simple gift.

Eventually, he lifted it to his nose and inhaled. 'So precious a gift for so trifling a service. It hardly seems a fair exchange.' She suspected him of mockery for a moment and frowned. His voice was, once more low and thrumming, with all traces of its previous danger, erased. It occurred to her that he was deliberately gentling his usual aura of menace for their benefit and wondered why.

His horses snorted and pulled and then he was gone.

Demeter looked at her beautiful daughter. 'Well, my dearest! We need not trouble our heads about the blacksmith. Hades likes to keep the distinction of rank, preserved.'

Kore felt sleepy and yawned. 'Yes, mother. Poor Hephastus. I think I shall rest for an hour. I am so glad I am not mortal, dear Mother. _They_ could not feast all night as I have. They must waste so much time asleep.' The chestnut haired girl put her head on her arms and thought for a moment. 'Was Lord Hades so intimidating against the Titans?' She enquired. 

Demeter turned grave at the memory. 'He was much worse, little one. No god killed so many as he. He dealt merciless death even then. I have wondered often, if the fates intended for him to draw the shortest straw when the world was divided. I don't think either of my other brothers could rule the Underworld so well as he.' Demeter smiled. 'Did he frighten you very much, darling?'

'I think he must frighten everyone. '

She kissed Demeter's warm, sun kissed cheek. 'I had a wonderful time. Thank you for taking me.' She fell onto a doze amongst the sweet, bright poppies and dreamt of joyful music, dancing nymphs and of the swirling faces of all the gods she had seen that night.


	2. Chapter 2

Kore spent the next few weeks lingering close to her mother. Demeter kept her daughter nearby, taking Kore with her to the fields when she blessed the freshly sown seed. The corn and wheat would grow plump and strong this year, the grateful mortals would have a plentiful harvest.

Eventually, Demeter allowed Kore to wander further afield with the nymphs and Kore relished the small freedom. They danced together in shallow streams, splashing and frolicking under Helios' bright rays. Sometimes, Kore would lead her friends into the shady forests, searching for a cool place to lie beneath the leafy canopy. She often felt watched during those times as she rested on the sweet smelling floor of fallen leaves. The feeling did not worry her, her mother was renowned for being protective of her child--if she sent someone to keep watch over her safety it was nothing unusual. 

On one bright, shining jewel of a day, Kore was wandering in the meadow near Demeter's grove. The nymphs were dozing on the banks of the stream at the bottom of the poppy field, Kore had wandered away from the group for a moment of solitude. Demeter had travelled to her white temple in the west to bless the mortals who worshipped there so diligently. Kore had been feeling on edge ever since her mother left.

As she stooped to admire the vibrant red of a poppy, she felt the first tremblings of the earth as thunder rolled in from afar. Thinking it may be an approaching storm, Kore turned back towards the sleeping nymphs--intent on waking them and seeking shelter. She stopped still after a few steps in confusion. The rumbling was louder now and not in the distant, cloudless skies, but deep in the earth beneath her. No sooner had she realised this than she felt the ground quake beneath her feet. The bewildered goddess started to run, in her fear, not towards the sleeping maidens--but instead towards the shadowy forest. 

Her mother's meadow creaked and groaned, ever increasing in volume. A turbulent wind started to blow, billowing about her and whipping her long hair up into her face.

Kore, truly alarmed and running in earnest now, turned her head in time to see the meadow split and heave before parting itself in a great cavernous entrance, to hell. 

A moment later and the thundering of heavy hooves rang out loudly from the depths within. She looked ahead to the forest and did not need to look back to see that they pursued her. The world seemed to blur before her eyes as she fled, faster than she had ever run before. Her heart pounded from within her chest and she had not even enough breath to scream her terror to the skies. She felt the beasts gain on her, almost so close that their breath stirred the hair that streamed out behind her. Kore heard the peculiar beat of the horses hooves as they drew alongside her. 

For a breathless, sobbing moment, Kore thought that they might pass her by, that her instinct had been at fault and that she had not needed to flee. In that moment she faltered and turned her head to look. Her fearful eyes just had time to see the grim faced god of the dead reach over the side of his chariot and with one hand still holding the reins, grasp her firmly by the waist and haul her to his chest. 

Kore knew, instinctively that if he took her back with him, underneath the earth, there would be no hope for her. She opened her mouth and screamed. Wordless, panic filled cries. She beat her hands against Hades' black armoured torso, kicked at his shins and tried to fling herself out of his grasp. His arm was unyeilding about her, it did not even loosen when she scratched and bit at it. 

The chariot made a sweeping arc in the meadow and, without breaking its pace-- sped downwards into the passage that had been ripped into the earth. Kore's screams fell silent when the ground closed over above them. She saw only the faint glimmer of ghostly light ahead of them in the suffocating darkness. 

For the first time in her happy, sheltered life-- Kore fainted.

****

When she came to, it was with the sensation of being lifted from the chariot by strong arms. There was enough pale light to make out Hades unmoving countenance. She closed her eyes again, not wishing to look on the face of the fearsome man who would deliberately tear her from her mother's protection.

The King bore her in his arms for a little way until she heard the gentle lapping of water on a shore. She opened her eyes as they boarded a boat. Hades stood unmoving at the prow, looking onward across the river as a hooded, skeletal figure steered the vessel through the inky black waters. He did not speak, but Kore knew that he was watching her. 

As they reached the far shore, so hopelessly far from her home, the pale light changed from something watery and cold to a strong warmth that she thought at first might be the sun. She raised her head in bewilderment and looked about her.

Tall grasses wafted in a gentle breeze, unrecognizable flora bloomed and tall trees stretched their branches wide beneath a misty sky. Kore did not think that it could possibly _be_ the sky, but the swirling whiteness was high enough up that it made no difference.

Hades did not set her down to get off the boat, he stepped down into the water and waded through the shallow waves to the shore. A different chariot stood waiting, held by a servant in a grey cloak. He bowed to his master and handed over the reigns but did not speak. The dread Lord set the terrified Kore down on the floor of the chariot and flicked the reigns. Kore hid her face in her hands and wept until they stopped again. 

He did not lift her this time, merely taking her hand and tugging her to her feet. She did not know how her legs supported her, but was glad they did since the only other option was utterly abhorrent.

Hades led her through great iron wrought gates, through courtyard gardens and into an immense palace. Once inside, they made their way past silent servants and into a throne room. Hades throne stood on a dias against a wall of beaten gold and was itself encrusted with diamonds. He released her trembling fingers and went to sit on it.

He made an imposing figure, sitting on his shining chair--a massive figure in black thrown into sharp relief by the brilliance of the gold behind him. Beaten into the metal wall were images of the crowned Hades waging war against the Titans, a suitable reminder of the power of the god before whom little Kore now stood.

He did not speak, just watched her, his elbows resting on diamond arms and long fingers steepled under his chin. Abducting an innocent maiden did not seem to trouble him, his expression was no different to the first time she had seen him at her presentation in Zeus' palace. 

Kore thought of her mother. She would do anything to return to her arms again. Approaching the dias, she mounted the steps and lowered herself down. She reached up her hands to grasp King Hades' knees through the thick silk of his long robes. 

Tears fell from green eyes and down her lovely cheeks as she made the ancient gesture of supplication. His eyes glittered strangely and he sat, a tensed coil, watching her in deafening silence.

Kore gasped for the right words. 'Will my Lord, o mighty Hades, tell me what manner of offence I have committed against your majesty, that I have been punished so cruelly?' Her voice sounded hoarse and raw, her mouth tasted of blood. Her eyes darted to the forearm of her captor and widened at the trickle of red streaming from the imprint of teeth there.

His hand darted out to rest on her bent head, then gently swept back the curls that hid her face from him. Kore clung to his knees and tried not to flinch at the carressing touch. 

When he spoke, his voice was low and intimate''. 

'You have stolen from me, sweet Kore.' Her head shot up in astonishment, to see the corners of his mouth curl upwards in a mirthless smile. 

Relief flooded her. It was a simple misunderstanding. 'Majesty, I have not. I have taken nothing from you, I...I _wouldn't._ '

He frowned slightly, Hades was not a being that was often contradicted. 'I say that you _have_. You stood before me at Olympus, since then, I have had no peace of mind. You stood within the circle of my arms, and now they can find no comfort. Since you bestowed on me a humble bloom, I have had no joy in all the riches of the earth.'

Kore, horrified by his tender passion, tore her hands away from the backs of his knees and scrambled away from him. A single strand of her hair remained caught in his hand and he wound it around his forefinger. 

'I do not seek to punish you, little one. Merely to put you where the fates have decreed that you belong. By my side, crowned and named as Hades' queen.' 

Kore, white faced, sat on the bottom step of the dias. Her mind was a whirl. 

Hades wanted her. He wanted to wed her. He would have her regardless of her inclination, was it not the way of things for women? His voice was calm and soft but Kore heard the edge of implacability that resonated from the King.

In this moment, with the evidence of his power beaten into the very walls of his palace, Kore was not going to court his anger. She wanted to survive, she wanted to see her mother again. Mother would find a way to free her, but until then, it was up to Kore to use all the cunning of the fabled Odysseus and out manouver the King.

How many people had crossed Hades and lived?

She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat and gave an almost imperceptible nod. Hades noticed it and some of the tension left him. 

'You do me great honor, my Lord.' The girl rasped and could say no more. It was courteous and utterly an unobjectionable thing to say to a betrothed husband. 

He stood and reached down to aid her to her feet, for an instant Kore battled with the desire to simply scream and flee when his hand pressed her to him. As his face neared hers, clearly intent on claiming her mouth, she recalled that there was no one to hear her screams and that here in the Underworld, there was nowhere to flee to. 

He surprised her by not pressing her lips to hers immediately, but instead kissing away the teardrops that she could not prevent from falling. Then his arms surrounded her, one hand burying itself in her hair to angle her head and he brought his mouth down to meet hers.

She had always thought that kissing somebody was an odd thing to want to do, the act of putting ones face so close to a man's was surely an uncomfortable experience. 

Kore had been correct, at least, about it not being comfortable. She _burned_ when fighting the waves of sensation and was further enflamed when she at last surrendered to him.

A short time later, after which Hades heaved a sigh and ran a thumb over her swollen lips as he pressed a final kiss to her forehead.

'Kore will not do, you know.' he murmured in her ear, 'It will not do at all. When I crown you tonight, I shall give you a new name. You will not be a girl after today, my Lady.' He regarded her flushed face and rosy lips with apparent satisfaction. 'I shall crown you Queen Persephone, she who destroys the voices of mortal men. My wife.'

Kore frowned in confusion. She had encountered very few mortals and had left them utterly unharmed by the encounter. 'I don't understand.' she whispered as he bent his dark head to press fervent kisses to her palms.

He looked up at her question and his eyes were black and stormy. 'I guard what is mine.' he said, 'I shall be a jealous husband, Lady. I will bedeck you in precious, beautiful robes and then smite the eyes of those that linger on you for too long. Only I will whisper your name in hopeful entreaty. Persephone,' he breathed, ' I will put a curse on your name, that if it crosses the lips of a mortal it will mean the death of his voice. No mere man deserves the freedom of your name. The gods will call you my Queen and the world will know that you are entirely mine.'

She swallowed but could not break her gaze from his. He seemed to be emitting tangible, violent power, but his face was set in tender lines as he looked at her. 

She dropped to her knees again to grasp his.

'That is the second time you have done that, little one. The laws of Zeus are not supreme here, I am not obliged to grant you your request. Ask me anyway. Beg me. Entreat. Plead. I would not see you unhappy.'

The maiden released his knees and bent her head. 'Lady Demeter, your Majesty. I should like to see her, please. I would have her know that I am unharmed. She will be so unhappy to find me gone. I beseach you, my Lord--give my mother some peace...tell her where I am.'

He considered her request. 'She cannot come here and I'll not take my wife above ground so soon after wedding her, 'tis unseemly.' The goddess at his feet waited. 'But,' he said eventually, 'I shall arrange for a message to be taken to Hermes to deliver that you are safe and that she need not look for you.' He looked into her eyes and added, 'I shall present you in Zeus' court within the next year or so, you will see her then.'

Kore lowered her eyelids so that her future husband should not see the resentment that must surely be evident. 'Thank you, my Lord.' For good measure, she kissed his hand. 'Are we to wed today, then?'

'Yes, by sunset. Your coronation also. My people will be assembled to greet their new mistress.'

Kore tried for a neutral response. 'I shall try to be a good one, sir.' Unbidden, tears sprang from her eyes again and she brushed them away impatiently. 

Hades saw them and sobely said, 'I see you are overwrought. I will treat you well, Persephone. I do not wish for your unhappiness.'

She almost railed at him then. That he should tear her from her home and then deny her her own mothe and claim that he cares for her happiness! Inwardly, Kore scoffed. She thought him presumptious, taking even her name from her. Perhaps, if she bided her time, there would be an evident escape from this place--although where she could hide afterwards was a mystery. It was clear that he'd not let his queen wander far, even if he did eventually tire of her. She had heard stories of his posessive nature. 

In that moment, hope seemed a fragile, distant thing. A cobweb that would be swept away by the howling wind. She clung to hope and tried to smile.

'Tis just that I am shocked, sir. I had not expected...any of this.' she made an expansive gesture with her hand, encompassing him, his throne room and the entire Underworld in the graceful turn of her wrist. 'I shall try to contain myself a little better, though I am not used to that either.' She thought of Demeters loving tolerance of her daughter's free and easy ways and nearly broke down. 'If there is somewhere I might rest a while and refresh myself, I would be grateful.'

Hades nodded once, watching her carefully as though the dam of her emotions might break forth at any moment, likely to knock him aside with their force. He took her hand and led her through high ceilinged, lofty rooms and a maze of airy hallways. Light flooded the palace but no torches burned and there was no sunlight to stream in from without. How then was the darkness kept at bay? It was a mystery that distracted her thoughts from the feel of Hades' hand firmly clasping hers.

It occurred to her, as he led her to a luxurious chamber, that the darkest thing about the Underworld, was King Hades himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it, I found it preposterously hard to write!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its been so very long between updates! Real life has been a bit mad and I've been tapping away at this chapter whenever possible.
> 
> On the plus side, I've fleshed out the plot a but more and know where I am going, hopefully the words should come a but more easily to me.

Persephone did not sleep, the gods so rarely do after all. Instead, she sat stiffly on a delicate, gilded chair and shut her eyes against the sumptuous furnishings. She knew two things for certain. Firstly, if she did not escape from this strange realm of Hades' then she would be wed by nightfall. Secondly, there was no escape from the Underworld. 

They had crossed the river Styx by boat, the murky waters that the gods swore their oaths by. Hermes, the messenger with the winged sandals told her that he was the only one who could cross it without recourse to the wooden boat. Persephone did not think it at all likely that the boatman would risk the wrath of dark Hades to aid her return home.

It seemed that she was stuck here, for the time being, at least. She knew her mother would not rest until she was found and back where she belonged. Demeter could petition Hera and Zeus to make her marraige disappear. Perhaps there was hope after all. She could return to the world she understood and answer to the name bestowed upon her by a loving mother.

The hours slipped by, she felt the room chill slightly and when she opened sore, red rimmed eyes she saw that the shadows had lengthened and that a dusky blackness had crept in through the window. Persephone frowned in confusion. It was impossible that the sun could shine so far beneath the earth, how then was there sunlight and a sunset? 

Despite herself, she gave into her curiousity and wandered to the window. She did not need to lean out far before discovering the source of what little light there was left. 

An immense ball of fire burned in the center of a great open space. Scores of shades were hanging coloured jewels around it, blocking out its rays. Currently, they rushed to the firey ball with rubies and the light turned rosy and warm as it shone through them. 

She felt a heavy hand rest on her shoulder. She jumped.

'It is the core of the earth, my Lady. My subjects call it our nether-sun. It serves us well enough for light and warmth but has to be hidden at night. The shades you see there have been sentenced to a hundred years of making the nether-sun rise and set. In a while they will block it out with obsidian.'

'It is very like the sun, above.' she replied, glumly. 'Does it cause flowers to open their petals also?'

Hades shook his head. 'The flowers down here are rather different, my sweet. They bloom as they are required to, and that is not so very often.'

Kore shivered and Hades led her away from the window to a roaring fire that crackled in a marble hearth. The door to the chamber opened and servants came in bearing armfuls of dresses and jewelled sandals. 

Hades bent his dark head to her and she noticed that he had discarded his armour for an embroidered cloak trimmed with sleek black fur. 

'These are your maids, they are here to dress you for your bridal feast. I hope my gifts please you as much as it pleases me to bestow them.' His hand gently pushed back a heavy lock of hair from her shoulder and his fingers rested there a moment. She was conscious of the intimacy of it all, the rush of warmth to her skin where he touched and dreadfully aware of the servants who were studiously looking anywhere but at their King. Hades pressed his lips to her cheek and murmured in her ear, 'Tonight the Underworld shall gain a Queen of unparalleled beauty. I shall see you anon, fair Persephone.' 

He was out of the room before she and the waiting women could rise from their curtsies. 

The women, who were almost certainly mortal came forward to comb her hair and draw her to a golden tub filled with heated water. Persephone had only bathed in cool streams and rockpools before and found the experience very strange, but not entirely unpleasant. When she rose from the sweetly scented water, the women--who largely remained silent, draped her in a gown that was made of gold. It shimmered as they arranged it around her carefully. Golden sandals were slipped on her feet and the leather was so soft she could have been walking on a mossy lawn.

She sat through their careful preparations passively enough, allowing them to direct her head as needed for the elborate style they were braiding into her hair. A chest of jeweled hair ornaments was opened and presented for her approval.

Kore gaped. Once, in her wanderings in the forests the nymphs had discovered a single emerald hidden in the hollow of a tree. There was no explaination for it being there and no obvious owner. The young goddess had held it up to the sunlight, entranced by the fire that seemed to live inside the stone. The beauty of its colour held her in awe. Her mother had told her that she needed to return it to the hollow, what use had they for the cold gems of the earth? Demeter had grown her a bower of roses to amuse her instead. All the riches of the earth belonged to the Rich One himself, she said. Hades, having no use for life or love, hoarded his wealth possessively. Demeter told her of the great value of the stone, that its price would feed, clothe and house a large mortal family for years to come. Kore had heeded her mother's words and returned the emerald, but every so often revisted the tree, just to look at the stone again.

The chest in front of her was overflowing with rubies, diamonds, emeralds and saphires-- each worth a kings ransom. She pointed to the emeralds and the women wove them skillfully into her hair.

By the time she was declared ready, torches had been lit around the room. Her head felt heavy with the wealth that nestled in her shining curls and her heart felt heavier still with the increasing certainty that she might never again be the same. 

A strange kind of dignity held her upright in the midst of her absolute despair. The resolution that if this were to be her fate she would face it with the courage of a woman. A stronger courage than that of men, they would fight and rail against their destiny but a woman would make of it what she could. Such was the lot of women, even amongst the gods.

Persephone straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. She could not quite manage a smile, perhaps that would come later. She nodded gravely to the women who had adorned her with such care and thanked them. She did not smile at the shock they displayed. Hades clearly did not treat his mortal slaves with any kind of civility.

They flanked her, as she stepped out of the chamber to turn down vaulted hallways. One day, she would stop to look at the fresco's and tapestries that covered the walls, but not tonight. For now, she would glance neither to the left, nor to the right in curiousity.

Hades sat in his throne room, surrounded by a multitude of his subjects. As she approached him, they parted like a field of wheat and cried. 'She comes! She who is honoured by Lord Hades, our great King. Blessings upon the union that brings Springtime to the Underworld.'

Hades saw her and rose, extending a white sceptre for her to kiss, She did so and tried not to stare at _him_ staring at her. His was not a face that smiled easily, she realised, but the slight upward lift of his lips and the crinkle in the outward corners of his eyes indicated that he was pleased. 

He waved his hand and drums began to beat out a stately tattoo. The deep sound echoed long, if the mortal above heard it they would quake in terror. 

'I, Hades have commanded your presence here to witness the coronation of my Queen. Upon her head, I will place the diadem of shadows-- she is as eternally bound to me as my own.' The assembly murmured its approval and the drums beat louder. 'In her hand, I shall put the sceptre of time--it is hers to bestow on those who are subject to it.' Persephone blinked, but remained silent as she gripped the carved ivory. The beat of the drums grew louder yet and Hades lifted his voice in one final declaration. 'Around her shoulders, I drape the mantel of my protection, woe to any being that causes her to have need of it. My wrath will be told in the screamings of their agony, forevermore.' 

He took her hand in his. 'I present my Queen, Persephone. Go forth and tell the realms of her beauty and grace. Her name is cursed, no one shall utter it twice--it is _mine_. Kneel. Acknowledge her as mine, proclaim her as her majesty requires.'

The drums ceased and the echo of their beat faded and died. For a split second, silence descended on the Underworld, even the souls in Tartarus ceased their tormented cries. Then a great roar went up, as loud as anything the young Queen had ever heard and she resisted the urge to cover her ears. Hades raised his hand again and soft pipes and strings began to play a slow, sensual music. Servants came in, laden with trays of food and pitchers of wine. 

Hades leant down to whisper in his wife's ear. The longest feast on Oympus lasted for three days and nights. In your honor...Hades' realm shall banquet for yet one more.'

Her husband (oh the strangeness of it all!) led her to a table and laid her down next to it, cushions of satin were aranged about her and then he took his place opposite her. 

Servants hurried over, presenting golden platters to their King and silver ones to the Queen. Persephone, as she must be known now, took a selection of meats and fruits, dismissing the girl with a nod of thanks. 

Hades took from his platter, food like she had never seen before. 'What manner of food is that, Lord Hades? I have never encountered it.'

He licked the juice from his thumb before answering her. 'You may address your husband as Hades, Persephone.' His voice deepened and slowed when he spoke to her. Her name was a carress on his tongue. 'The plates of gold bear the food of the dead, it carries with it a curse- those who eat of it are forever bound to me and my /lands.' He smiled briefly at the speed in which his bride dropped her grapes. 'The /food before you is, of course, from the world above. Your soul is yet your own.'

'Why, sir? You have decreed me wife and Queen. It is permanent is it not?' She raised curious eyes to his face and lowered them again quickly, his gaze was penetrating and she would not have him know the reason for her questions. 'Am I not _bound_ here, and to you, regardless?' 

His reply fed her hope. 'Marraige can be disolved and Queens can be toppled. The first would require the consent of Hera, who has never given it, the second is at my behest.' He drunk from his goblet and continued. 'I am known for my unchanging nature, wife. I shall not give you up.' His expression was dark and fierce until he saw the naked fear in her eyes. The black look on his face became less so, but his tone was implacable when he spoke again. 'I know what you are thinking of, Lady wife. Your mother may try to take you from me. Heed my warning, gentle Persephone, it is not wise to take that which belongs to Hades, but I would have you surrender your very soul to me by your own will.'

She cast her gaze down to her plate and ran her finger around the edge. A pattern of flowers and wheat was painted onto the rim. It had been made for her, a silver plate for springtime. Kore pushed it away, she could not banquet as a Queen whilst her mother would be in agonies.

'Will you spare my dear mother for doing as she must? It would be against her very nature to not seek me out and try to bring me home again.'

His eyes were flinty, reminding her of the obsidian that now cloaked the nether-sun. 'Persephone. You _are_ home. Your mother will feel my displeasure should she try to take you. As for you, my Queen. Wander anywhere you please in your kingdom...but do not venture to cross the Styx without me. You would not like the consequences of my anger any more than I should like to impose them, but do not mistake that for unwillingness. I have you, and I shall _certainly_ keep you.'

Hope faded once more to a gossamer thin thread and tears burned in Persephone's eyes. Her throat closer and her voice would not obey her. She settled for a nod to her unbending husband and concentrated on skinning a peach.

 _Queen_ Persephone, looking back, would often say that those first days of banquetting were a strange, thrumming, blur. The music was loud, the dancing primal and the drink stronger than anything she had ever had. Certainly, she drank too much wine-- but rather thought that the ever watchful eyes of Hades were headier than the effects of strong drink. 

He carried her off to his bed, after the feasting was over, kissing her mouth as the shades were changing the jewels around the nether-sun for a riot of reds and pinks. They had created a glorious sunrise in honour of her marraige and all Persephone could think of, as her husband loomed over her, was that the very light around them looked like blood. 

After that, she was _Kore_ no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know if you did. :-)


	4. Chapter 4

The Blossomming of Springtime: Chapter 4

Persephone sat, arrayed in splendid robes, beside Hades in the cavernous throne room. The sheer number of matters brought before the judgement of the king was incredible. Hades dealt justice swiftly and tirelessly. Occaisionally, a pitiful soul would take note of the silent goddess beside the judge and threw themselves on her mercy, hoping for her intervention. When this happened, Hades would gravely turn to his wife and name the price of his mercy. It was usually a kiss or an embrace. Persephone had little enough mercy to spare for the shades who expected _her_ to pay the price for their misdeeds. She had done nothing but exist, and no gentle deity had yet come to alleiviate her suffering.

She often wandered the Underworld alone, reluctantly curious about its workings and laws. Hades did not place onerous restrictions on her explorations. He told her to not attempt to cross the wide river Styx and to stay away from Tartarus. She supposed that she was either very cowardly or very sensible, because she had no desire to disobey him.

In fact, she was a very obeidient wife, she aceeded to his every request and edict. If he noticed that she did not go beyond that in trying to please him, he did not remark on it but as the days passed she observed that Hades' commands to her became more gently worded, so that they almost sounded like requests.

On the thirteenth day of her captivity, Persephone wandered to the farthest reaches of the realm, where the light of the Nether-sun barely reached and the land stretched out empty and desolate. Few shades wandered there, and those that did would not approach the beautiful woman whom Hades had claimed. 

The unhappy Queen sunk to her knees, disregarding her fine robes and dove her dainty fingers deep into the soil. It was moist and warm and it felt like home. She called to the earth to produce and concentrated on nurturing the tiny seedling that sprouted. Her tears watered the young life and it sprung up. 

It matured quickly into a tree of some sort, a willow perhaps- but unlike anything she had created before. In her old life, the plants and trees that she had occaisionally formed sprung up joyous and cheerful, reaching up to the bright sky. Not so here. The willow branches drooped and gracefully grew back down to the ground. It looked, she thought, as though it were weeping, and was comforted by the thought. She visited that spot every day, it was as far away from Lord Hades as she could get and, by growing a new tree with each visit, she could number the days of her separation from her mother. 

By the time Hermes sought an audience with her husband, she had created a woodland of over a hundred trees.

She found a strange contentment in the gloom of her wood, the shades of Elysium would sometimes come to see, and then depart --the weeping trees were too sorrowful for their blissful existence to bear. Her favourite tree was her first. It grew tall and strong, but its leaves and branches remained adamantly bowed in sadness, when she rested her head against the rough trunk, Persephone almost felt she had a sympathtic friend. 

A slave, whose name she had no desire to learn, approached her. 

'His Majesty requests that you attend him in the throne room, my Queen. The messenger has come.'

Persephone nodded once. In a fit of pique, she shrouded her favoured retreat in a shadowy mist, she preferred not to use the powers that her husband had conferred on her but today she would make an exception.

She entered the throne room quietly, to find Hades in deep discussion with Hermes, the messenger god. She knew him by sight and reputation, but had never had cause to speak to him. It was doubtful he would know her.

She bowed her head to Hades, respectfully, who stood and extended his hand.

 

'My Queen,' he murmured, kissing her fingertips. Persephone smiled slightly and turned her curious gaze to the visitor.

'Honoured Hermes. What brings you to my husband's court? Is all well in the world above?' She did not dare speak more than that. Not with her Hades' cold fingers tightening- in a warning- about hers.

'Fair Queen. It is well met, a thousand blessings upon your marraige, my lady.' Hermes looked admiringly at her and she nodded slightly in response to his greeting. The messenger glanced at Hades and something in the Kings face made him avert his eyes from the beauteous goddess before him. 'Alas, Majesties, I bear bad tidings from the earth above. Demeter greives most sorrowfully for her departed child, and hunts high and low for the young maiden. I am charged by mighty Zeus, to seek out any who might have seen her or have news.'

In response to this speech, Hades tugged on her hand, bringing Persephone closer to him. He breathed in her ear, 'be silent, sweet wife,' before turning to Hermes and gravely saying, 'has no word been received by the harvest goddess, regarding her daughters safety? Tell me, o fleet footed Hermes, what has been done?' He gathered his queen close to him, bringing her head against his broad shoulder and continued, 'My gracious wife is not to be troubled in this. It is of course, upsetting to one so tender hearted as she.'

Hermes stared, as the most ancient of the gods put a hand on the lithe waist of the beautiful woman in his arms. He had not heard of Hades' marraige, not until setting foot in this spendid court and seeing the pair of thrones on the dias. He could not tell whether the young thing was mortal or otherwise. She was lavishly arrayed, with many jewels wound about her neck and arms, lovely arms- he couldn't help but note. All of her was lovely actually, slender and etheral but with such an aura of sadness that Hermes found himself longing to comfort her. He felt the searching gaze of Hades upon him and wisely ended his train of thought. The souls of the Undeworld whispered that Hades' myterious power was so great that he could gather the thoughts of men and examine them. Hermes did not like to risk underestimating him. Hephaistus had recently incurred Hades wrath for some reason and had yet to leave his workshop since. No hammering had been heard within for many days.

'The Lady Demeter has searched every favoured corner that Kore has been, my Lord. The nymphs who were the child's constant companions say only that they were awakened by an earthquake and saw no sign of the girl. Great Poseidon has agreed to search the oceans and her father Zeus, who commands the world above leads the hunt there. He entreats you, my Lord, in a gesture of friendship to search your realms for the girl, Kore. Pity for Demeter! Pity for the lost child!'

Hades very deliberately held -the now silently sobbing- Persephone closer to him. 'It is unnessesary, Hermes, for me to search my own kingdom for Demeters offspring. I know well who enters and leaves my lands. There is no maiden called Kore here.'

Hermes bowed. 'I thank you, Sire. I shall bear your information back above. Are there any messages you would have me take with me, Your Majesty? Shall I tell the gods of your illustrious marraige, of your kingdoms great wealth and its queen's remarkable beauty?'

Hades considered. 'By all means,' he said smoothly. 'Tell them that even the eternal shades in Elysium press their faces into the dust at her approach, that she commands the shadows and can halt the very progression of time. It is a worthy queen that I have crowned.'

Hermes bowed. 'And may I take back with me the name of this paragon, o most ancient one?'

'Her name is mine. It is cursed. Extol her virtues and her titles, the Queen of the Underworld, will suffice.'

Hermes brows rose at this, but glancing once more at Hades he simply bowed and bid them farewell. He did not linger in Hades' kingdom, but instead flew quickly forth to the world above.

Persephone wrenched herself away from her husband and fled from the throne room. If even Hermes could not know that she had been taken, what chance had Demeter to find her and bring her home? She retreated to her wood and did not emerge until sunset. 

 

She had underestimated the tenacity of her mother, however. The next time Hermes came, he bore the news that Helios had told Zeus of her capture, having seen it from his high vantage point when he crossed the azure heavens. Hermes stood before Hades and demanded the safe return of Kore.

'My Lord, Demeter grieves. She permits nothing to grow on her beloved earth whilst her daughter is not with her. The world is covered in ice and snow. Mortals are dying, sire. Famine is taking the lives of many. I beseach you, majesty. Return the maiden to her mother, Zeus commands it.'

 

Persephone had only known Hades for half a year, but even she, who avoided him when ever possible, could tell that this was a disastrous speech for Hermes to have to utter. Hades sat, stone-like in his glittering chair, his hand clenching his sceptre. The god was furious.

'So, Demeter neglects her solemn duty and expects to command me with it through Zeus, does she? I have a message for you to take back, boy. Fly swiftly with it. There is no maiden to return. She is mine. Shall I also refuse to do my duty, shall I leave the mortals slain by Demeters treachery on the brink of death, with no release from agony? Think on _that_ before you bring me more messages of insolence. Hades shall war with the earth and the oceans before my wife is taken from here.'

Persephone cleared throat. 'Honoured Hermes. I would have you tell my mother that I am safe, if you please. Tell her that Kore is indeed no more, but that Persephone beseaches that she look to her duty, as I must look to mine. Tell her...tell her that my love for her is as it ever was.'

Hermes nodded, understanding with the ease of long diplomacy, what was unsaid. 'My Lady, will you not elect to come with me now? Your mother would be overjoyed...'

Hades rose to his feet and a black spear appeared in his hand. 'Silence! O theiving Hermes.' Hades, with a swift thrust of his arm let loose the spear to fly over the messengers head. It sailed the length of the court and embedded itself deep into the beaten metal of the doors. 'Ill not shed blood before her, but I will have your head and your heart beneath her feet if you continue.'

Persephone, seeing the simmering rage of Hades, stood by him and laid a hand on his. 'Peace, I beg you, my Lord. I would not wish for blood to be spilled on my account.' She spoke to Hermes who was backing away towards the, now ruined, doors. 'Fly, Hermes. I cannot leave this place. Kore is lost.'

Hermes fled, his winged sandals making him speed back to the world above. Persephone wondered whether the god would prefer to face the wrath of Zeus or Hades. It was likely that he would face both in a short span of time. 

Hades wound his arm about her waist and drew her close. 'Sweet wife.' He murmured, his lips ghosting over hers, 'you cannot bear violence. I wonder how your gentle heart must ache to sit beside me so silently, as I condemn the guilty to eternal suffering. Would you intercede if you could, hmm?'

She looked up at him. One surprising thing about Hades, for all his humourless gravitas, was that his mind flitted about in a manner that she could not fathom. There seemed to be no logic or straight path between his conversation and his actions. 'I would not be so unwise as to undermine any ruling of yours, my King.'

His eyes glitterred like jewels and he swiftly kissed her. 'Come dine with me, Persephone.' was all he said, and he led her to the dining hall.

The Queen sat listlessly as he made up a silver platter of fruits for her, her mind was elsewhere, wondering where Demeter was at this moment and what her mother was doing to plan her rescue. It bolstered her spirits a little, to think that now her mother knew of her whereabouts, she would surely come and she ate what was on her plate more eagerly because of it.

She picked up a pomegranate, breaking it and pulling out the seeds. The juice spread over her fingers, dark and red. Hades watched her, his own golden platter remaining untouched. Perhaps the food of the dead was not to his liking tonight, he was still and calm, but to his young wife, he seemed almost anxious. 

She had swallowed half of the seeds before she realised, with a flash of betrayal, the reason for his strange demenour. The pomegranate in her hand fell to the floor and she rose in her distress.

'Hades. What have you done? You have tricked me.' 

He stood to catch her as she stumbled, but she shied from him. Persephone, desperate, attempted to return the food from her body, with her fingers. Hades--merciless, trecherous and without remorse--grasped her wrist and prised her hand from her throat.

'No, Persephone! Do you hear me? No!' and he held her to him, watching as wept bitter tears of betrayal. She pushed at his chest, trying to free herself. She felt something strange and indefinable shift inside her and knew that he had won. He released her, and looked _agitated_ when she dropped to her knees.

She looked blankly up at him, months of repressed anger blazing in her eyes. 'You have decieved me, Hades. You have tricked me into eating the food of the dead. I will never, never forgive you.' She did not shout or rail at him, her words were soft and assured.

Her husband reached out hand, hovering above her but not daring to touch. She wondered bitterly why he abstained now. He had never cared for her opinion before, he had even taken her soul without her leave.

He crouched beside her crumpled figure. 'Persephone. Zeus would have prevailed on Hera to take you from me. I have spies. I know that she was weakening against him. I cannot, I will not give you up.'

Persephone pressed her wet face into her hands. 'Let me go. Send me home to my mother.' she commanded.

Her husband closed his eyes, his mouth was pressed closed and he shook his head. She looked up after a moment of silence to see agony on his features.

'I hate you.' She whispered.

His eyes flew to hers, shocked disbelief written in them and with a muted cry of grief, Hades turned on the spot and disappeared before her despairing eyes.

Persephone, the unwilling Queen, drew all the shadows about her, hiding herself in them. For the first time, the darkness comforted her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your kind responses. I know its been ages- sorry!

She spent the hours of darkness in her woodland, making the fog so thick that she herself could barely make out the shadowy trees. It did not take long for her anger and sense of betrayal to subside and for fear to take its place.

What _had_ she been thinking, to speak to Hades so? It mattered not at all that it was the truth; he had _power_ over her. She may be immortal, but she knew very well that she was not immune to pain...and she had seen him callously inflict _that_ often enough in her time as his wife. 

If only she could erase the memory of his expression when she had told him of her hatred. His ordinarily inscruitable demeanor had become an open book to her for that moment. She had _hurt_ him with her venom, and she found little satisfaction in it- she wished that she did.

It was not in her nature to wish pain on anyone. All her life, her mother had taught her to treasure life, to be as gentle with others as she was with her most delicate blooms. Sometimes, she forgot and always felt dreadful for it later. Anger always left her feeling hot and prickly, sick to her stomach and wishing to return to her normal placidity.

She leant against a drooping tree, too unsettled to even think of making another sapling spring up. Persephone, absorbed in her turmoiled thoughts, at first failed to notice the tall figure watching her silently from a short distance.

The thick fog dissipated around him, but he left the rest of the wood shrouded in darkness. When she looked up and saw him, he approached.

'Husband.' she said in greeting.

He bowed stiffly and her brows rose, unseen in the darkness. 'I am to take you to Olympus, Persephone.' Hades spoke, softly.

Whatever she might have expected him to say, it had not been _that_. She looked at him in blank astonishment. 

The corner of his mouth twisted downwards. 'Zeus wishes to verify your safety. Hera _says_ that our marraige requires her _blessing_.' His distainful opinion of his sisters boon was clear, and Persephone- for the first time, felt the urge to laugh. She contented herself with a cautious nod. Hades came closer.

'Your mother will be there. It is likely that she will petition my brother for your return.' Hades said it tonelessly, but his wife took silent note of his clenched fingers and drew her own conclusions.

'When?' She enquired, trying not to sound too hopeful. She had insulted him quite enough as it was.

He made an impatient gesture with his hand. 'Do you know, little one, that you are the most unfathomable creature I have ever dealt with?'

She couldn't help it. A watery chuckle escaped. Hades blinked and explained. 'I seem incapable of divining your thoughts. Your soul is mine, your hand and your body are mine, but the contents of that pretty head are a mystery to me.'

Hades came closer to her and put an arm either side of her, leaning against the tree. It reminded her of that first journey in his chariot. 'We leave immediately,' he said, finally answering her question. 'But first, I want something that has eluded me since I first laid eyes on you.'

His eyes were level with hers and he was so close, she could feel his breath on her cheek as he spoke. 

He slowly brought his hand, always graceful- despite its latent strength, to rest on the skin of her shoulder. It was heavy and warm against her skin. She felt his power swirl about them the moment before he concentrated it on her.

Her husband dropped his voice to a whisper, 'Sweet wife, my very _bones_ ache for a crumb of your affection. You come from the warm world above, having basked in the sunlight all your life...but you spare no warmth for me. I have been cold, Persephone, as _ice_ , for so long.' Persephone heaved great gulping breaths of air as Hades pressed close to her. She could not look away, could not break the burning gaze of her husband. She felt his power seep into her body from his fingertips, knew the very moment control was wrested from her and in that moment launched herself at him, suddenly filled with such fierce desperation that she could hardly think.

She wound her arms about his neck, needing to be nearer still as she kissed him with a passion that she did not know she possessed. He groaned and crushed her to him, she felt the rough bark of the tree to her back and the coolness of his plated armour to her chest. A fire raged through her body, she was wild for his kisses and in that moment felt as free and incandescently happy as she ever done in her life.

When she wound her fingers into the thick, oiled locks at his nape, he gave a strangled cry- releasing her and stepped back. She slid down against the tree to the floor, boneless and unable to stand. The controlling power of Hades that had overtaken her soul left as abruptly as it had come and still she could not will her trembling to cease and cold reason to return. 

Persephone sat, wide eyed and panting as Hades flung himself to rest against a nearby tree. For a treacherous moment, even with the certainty that he had just used his treacherously gained power over her in order to awaken her passion, all she wanted was to beg him to return to her-to kiss him again. She fisted the smooth silk of her gown in her hands and tried very hard not to watch the King as he so obviously fought an internal battle for self control.

He rested his forehead against the trunk of the willow and would not look at her. The thick fog that shrouded the forest had receded somewhat and she could clearly see the agony writ across his features.

How was it, she wondered, that his own control could have been so shattered by his manipulation of hers?

Eventually, he raised his head to look at her and once more she could not read his expression. 

'Come, my Lady Wife. We must away, to Olympus.' He stretched out a hand to aid her rising from the ground and she hesitated, afraid that if she touched his skin she would burn up all over again. He dropped his arm. 'Persephone...I'll not use my power over you again, fear not. I only...' He broke off, seemingly at a loss for words. 'I will not use your soul so, not again.' 

\--------------

 

They rode in great state and ceremony to Olympus, Queen Persephone stood beside her husband in his chariot, suitably crowned and begowned. The three Furies flanked their chariot and Persephone, after staring at them in horrified fascination for several minutes was glad when Hades ordered them to keep their distance from them. The flapping of their immense wings created a strong wind, causing Persephone's hair and Hades' cloak to whip about behind them as they travelled.

When they reached the great white palace of Zeus, commencing their walk upward, Persephone felt her stomach roil in anticipation. She would see her own dear mother in moments! Oh to feel Demeters safe arms around her once more, so different to the embrace of Lord Hades. She tried once more, to put the kiss in the willow wood out of her mind, but every now and then her husband's elbow would brush her upper arm as they walked and she remembered once again.

A great fanfare of trumpets announced their arrival and Persephone heard the messenger, Mercury cry out.

'Harken, o great gods of Olympus! The great king and queen of the Underwold approach. All honour to them.'  
Persephone felt the eyes of the assembled gods on her as they approached Zeus, she would have curtseyed then but Hades hand on her waist stayed her. Hades gave a very slight bow to Zeus and a cool nod to Hera, who rose to greet them.

'Brother!' Boomed Zeus, his greeting clear and confident. 'We welcome you once more.' The ruler of the heavens turned his bearded face slightly to look at Persephone, he smiled. 'My Lady. We bid you welcome also, the Lady Demeter has been most anxious to see you once more.' 

Almost as soon as her name had left Zeus' lips, the harvest goddess broke free of the crowd that held her back. In a flurry of white robes, she was before her daughter. Demeter did not so much as glance at the forbidding figure of her brother, did not pause at the sight of the crown and rich gown her child wore. The mother opened her arms and with sobbing, heartfelt sigh of relief Persephone stepped into them.

The women clung to each other, heedless of the multitude of eyes upon them. They did not see Hera raise a finger to dismiss the crowd, leaving the five of them left alone in the throne room. Persephone tucked her head beneath Demeter's chin and rested her cheek on her chest. Demeter was thinner, perhaps but still smelled of warmth and sunshine, that scent that meant comfort and safety. How good, how joyful it was to be in those beloved ams again!

At length, Persephone gently drew away to an arms length and looked at Demeter. What she saw worried her. The fresh, beauteous face that smiled on the prosperity of the mortals was now withered and gaunt. 

'Mother! Oh my dear one! What has happened to you?' cried the young Queen.

Demeter's smile was brittle. 'A curse. I left the world to famine and drought, hunting for you. The mortals pleaded for Zeus' intervention and when I refused to return to my duty...he punished me. My immortality cannot be touched, of course...but my eternal youth? Alas, I grow old now, as do the mortals. Oh, do not weep so, Kore! You are returned to me, I would bear a hundred such evils, to have you with me.'

Hades spoke, derision dripping from each word. 'She is not _returned_ to you, sister. She is mine. Wives, once wed, do not return to the home of their maidenhood. It is not the way of things. I know that you have attempted to persuade Hera to disolve the match- can you imagine the evil that might spring from such a decision? That a bond may be broken and rent assunder? What chaos would spring up amongst the mortals.' Hades, reached out and clasping Persephone's shoulder, turned her about and brought her to his side once more. 

At his touch she tensed, once more the urge to kiss him surfaced. She wanted to reach up and wind her fingers into the hairs that curled into his nape, to bring his head down to hers and...

Blushing she recollected herself, looking to the Goddess of Marraige, who was nodding in agreement with what her husband had said.

'Indeed, _husband_ ' said Hera lightly, 'enough mischeif is made already by marraiges being forsaken- if a precedent were set that they might be done away with altogether...it would be disastrous. Demeter must give up this madness and instead find solace in her duty. The child would have married regardless at some point anyway, it simply comes sooner than our sister had hoped.' 

'No!' declared Demeter. 'No. I should never have let her be at the cruel mercies of a man. I would have kept her with me, always.' she broke down, weeping. 

Persephone edged towards her mother and laid a hand on her shoulder. 'Mother...I...I have not met with cruelty. His Majesty has not injured me.' To her distress she saw that her mother did not heed her words, only moaned and hid her head in her hands.

Zeus sighed. 'This must be resolved! It can not go on as it is. The mortals are dying. Sister, will you not return to your harvest and your crops, knowing that your daughter is safe?' He recieved only a mutinous glare and a shake of the head in reply and turned to Hades. 'Brother. Will you release your Queen back to her mother's care? Have you compassion for the mortals?'

Hades bared his teeth. 'You ask me that? You would dare? I'll not release her. You permit your mistress too much liberty if she thinks to neglect her duty and gain from it! Hear me, brother KIng. If _anyone_ tries to take what is mine, I will not rest until I see them destroyed.'

Persephone looked at her hands. She did not want that. She would not, could not wish for such violence to occur if she were gain her freedom. Her mother was wrong to inflict such great suffering on others, she loved her dearly for trying to bring her home to the bright happy meadow, but could not condone such widespread pain. How she wished, whole heartedly, that there were someway to assuage both of them.

'Perhaps there is, noble Queen.' An eerie trio of voices spoke from behind he, as one. Persephone gasped and Zeus strode forward to greet the Fates. Three women, old and huddled together with tattered cloaks drawn over their heads. They ignored the mighty King of the gods and peered, squinting at Persephone. 'A true and noble thought. She is fated to rule and fated to be both wife and daughter.' The three aged crones cackled together. 'It is a question of _how_.'

Zeus, eager for a solution, asked, ' _can_ there be an easy solution? How is it to be accomplished?'

The three Fates turned their attention to him. 'Easy? Not so. Not for any of them, least of all for a Queen who commands time, she must be subject to it- must come and go at its passing. The solution can neither please all, nor injure any.'

Hades quite pale and seeming to understand the strange, riddled speach of the women, murmured calmly, 'If that is the answer, the earth can expect to feel _my_ wrath when she is not by my side.'

The women bowed. 'That is so, Great One. Your judgement is already written in the stars of the future. Nothing can be as it was.' The three joined hands and addressed the company. Even Demeter had risen from the floor and waited in anticipation for their pronouncement. 'She who is both springtime and destruction, shall remain with her Lord for six months of each year, then must return to the light of the world above to the arms of Demeter, until such time as her destiny is put into her own hands.' 

With that astonishing declaration, the strange trio left the great hall as swiftly and as noiselessly as they had entered it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those of you who have left a comment, its really nice to see that people are enjoying this.
> 
> Its drought or drown with me, isnt it? Hopefully I'll be able to post more regularly now.

Persephone lay on soft green grass, gazing up at the sky. Nymphs surrounded her but their merry chatter could not distract her from the fascination of the fluffy white clouds that passed overhead. It was an idle occupation, to spend hours on end just _looking_ and smelling and...existing.

Three months had passed since the Fates had given their verdict. It was decided that the Queen of the Underworld should commence her time with her mother immediately. It was the spee diest way, said Zeus, of ending the mortal suffering that Demeter had inflicted. Hades had looked sour when the harvest goddess had shot him a triumphant look over Persephone's head.

They never spoke of him, not even when he sent messengers and gifts to the world above to ask how she fared. On the occaisions that message bearers entered her home, Demeter would absent herself and leave the diplomacy to her daughter.

The goddess of the harvest made no effort to disguise her hatred of King Hades in those first days, she well nigh tore the fine robes and exquisite jewels off her child- all the while condemning the Lord of the dead for daring to take her. Persephone had remained silent, allowing Demeter to gently clothe her in the bright, beautiful cottons that she had always worn. The fabric felt strange to her, after so long spent in silk and fine lawn, perhaps she would have to become reaccustomed to it.

She knew that her mother _needed_ this, to brand her as her own again, after having searched frantically for her. She slept in her mother's arms that first night. Demeter held her close, as though to ward off Hades, should he come in the night to take her back below the earth. 

Persephone could not say that she missed her husband, she was too glad, too happy to be back with her mother to even think of it. Knowing that she would have to return to his side was a fact that she pushed to the back of her mind, she deliberately did not think of it.

In fact, were it not for the frequent gifts that he sent and the fearful reverence that all -except her mother- now treated her with, Persephone could almost forget that she was a Queen, that she had slept in the bed of a King. She admired the beautiful gifts her husband sent and quietly put them away so as not to distress her mother. A nymph had had asked her once, within Demeter's hearing, how long she had left before she must go back to the land of the dead. The expression of blind panic in Demeter's eyes had hurt Persephone and she had not objected to the vines that sprang up from the fertile earth, choking the breath from the foolish companion. Her time as Hades' Queen had given her a sense of justice that balanced out her compassion. She was not the same as she was, she would not entirely wish to be. 

Three months. In three months time, she would come face to face with Hades again. Was he as daunting as she remembered? Would his kisses reawaken that terrifying fire that consumed her, that burning, dreadful heat that threatened to consume her so that she hardly knew herself?

A nymph's persistant calling interrupted her reverie. 

'Your Majesty! My lady!'

'What is it?' she murmured.

'A _mortal_ man approaches! He has the look of detirmination about him.' 

Her curiousity aroused, Persephone sat up and looked across the meadow, squinting her eyes against the sun. A grecian fellow walked steadily towards the group, a lyre slung across his back, his jaw set and eyes focused upon the young Queen.

He sank to his knees before, his bent head level with hers. He did not speak but waited for her to acknowledge him. The nymphs tittered.

Persephone raised her hand for silence. She felt, rather strongly, that this wretched mortal should be grovelling before a regal goddess on a throne rather than a slightly grubby and barefooted girl lying on the ground. She dismissed the thought however, and decided that her bearing would simply have to be queenly enough to make up for the rest of it.

'What is your name, sir?' 

'I am Orpheus, noble queen.'

'And what is it that you want of me?' she queried.

He did not look up, did not move from where he knelt. 'I would have your majesty hear my song, and take pity on my suffering heart.' 

It was a reasonable enough request, she supposed and it was a rather less lazy occupation than staring at clouds and trying not to think about Hades.

'Well then, Orpheus,' she said softly, 'strike at your instrument and lift up your voice, my compassion is dependant on your skill.'

He shifted then, seating himself comfortably, with the lyre held tenderly in his hands. His hands carressed the strings for a moment before he drew breath and begun his song.

Persephone was enthralled as he opened his mouth to sing. Truly, this mere mortal had been blessed by the gods. His voice was as a rippling waterful, smooth and powerful and masterfully weilded.

He sung of his love for Euridice, his wife. He wept in the telling of it, so great was his passion for her. Truth was evident in every part of his tale. Orpheus' compelling music wove its own story, of wicked satyrs stealing his love away from him- of his frantic search and his despair at the finding of the pit of vipers that ended poor Euridice's life.

Not an eye was dry as the last chords of his mournful tune faded away. Somewhere, a far off a bird chirped unhappily. Even the animals wept with this man.

Persephone stood up, blinking back tears. 'Very well, Orpheus- your sad tale has moved me. I would wish to help you. I will plead your case to my husband.' she grimaced at the thought of what her mother might say, that she was even considering visiting the Underworld when she was not obliged to. She pitied the bard though, and wished to aid him, even if it meant facing Hades sooner than necessary. She waved away the gasping nymphs impatiently and pinned Orpheus with a glare. 'Have you _courage_ as well as song? We must descend to the place of the dead, it is a realm that mortals rarely return from. Your bravery will be put under great strain, if you do not do as you are required to, you will have to suffer the consequences alone, I will not petition King Hades twice on your behalf.'

The man quaked visibly at her dire warning, but nodded in response. 'I will do whatever I must to see my wife again, as any man would do.'

Persephone steeled herself. 'Well then. Come. We have a long journey ahead.' She sent a dryad off to her mother, bearing the news that she would return by sunrise the next morning and the pair set off. 

She knew, from her time there, that there were many entrances to the Underworld- but precious few exits- especially if you were unfortunate enough to be mortal. It seemed that the most likely option today, would be to visit Acheron and its deep flowing river, to seek the ferryman that could bear them below the earth.

Persephone did not relish the journey, but her heart was moved by the great pathos with which the poet spoke. She supposed that if she were ever to want her own sad tale told to the world, it would be Orpheus that ought to tell it. Not even the great Apollo plucked at his lyre with as much skill as this grieving husband. 

He entertained her as they travelled, with poems and tales that amused her immensely, she even found herself laughing lightly at Orpheus' accounting of the birth of Athene- she'd had no idea that the mortals possessed such strange imaginations.

When they at last reached the banks of the Acheron, Orpheus' smooth voice came to an abrupt halt. Shades paced the shores moaning and wailing for peace and for passage across. They parted before the Queen and her quaking shadow.

The ferryman bowed low when she raised her hand to him. 

'I seek passage to the Underworld, along with this man.' She said, gesturing to Orpheus, who had gone quite white with his fear. 'Will you bear us across?'

The silent, skeletal boatman simply bowed again. As with the first time she crossed the river, she felt his eyes on her the entire time- watching her from beneath the cowl of his hood.

The boat glided smootly across the still, dark waters. Orpheus grew more and more tense beside her, his eyes fixed on the black river. She did not know what he saw in those waters, did not care to know- her own anxiety mounted as they approached the far shore, judging by the light, the first jewels of sunset were being hung. What would her husband _say_ , would he be displeased at her presence here? Championing the cause of a bard? What would _she_ say?

They walked up to the palace, it was a winding, dusty climb, the dead bowed low at the sight of her, even without her royal robes and crown- perhaps she did not look so very common after all. She glanced down at her bare little toes peeping out from the grass stained hem of her chiton and let out of soft snort of self derision. She was fooling herself if she thought her appearance was in the least bit queenly. It was a problem that she would need to address once this adventure was done, she may be a wife for half a year and Springtime for the other but there must be some compromise to be reached in the matter of her dress. 

These thoughts occupied her attention as they passed through the great doors of the palace and into the throne room. It was brimming with petitioners, all begging for mercy from the King. Hades sat on his splendid throne, arrayed in a fine robe of black and gold- he looked as forbidding as he ever had. Perhaps more so.

He looked up from the scroll he read from as Persephone, gesturing to Orpheus to keep up, walked through the crowd of souls that parted before them. She congratulated herself on the brief flash of shock that crossed his features- a slight widening of dark eyes and a twitch of the thick brows.

She held her head high as she approached the dias and made her respectful curtsey.

Her husband tossed aside the scroll and leant back on his throne, his expression was carefully neutral and his hooded eyes glittered. There was no point in denying to herself that physically speaking, he was handsome. His dark hair gleamed in the evening light, Persephone felt dreadfully inadequate in contrast to his regality- she flushed lightly as she remembered that she probably still had flowers woven into _her_ locks.

'My Queen has returned to me. Will she not assume her rightful place by my side,' he drawled, flicking a finger to her empty seat, 'or does she seek my favour as my _subject?_ '

She didn't understand exactly what he meant, perhaps he merely wanted her to acknowledge him as her husband, but she understood that her next words would be important. His attitude and demenour may look casual but the hand clutching the diamond studded arm of his throne was white with the force he gripped with.

'My Lord husband...' She tentatively began, 'I would ask for private speech with your majesty, if I may.' She bit her lip.

Hades did not move, did not take his eyes off his wife. Eventually, he lifted a finger slightly and softly said, 'As you command, my queen.' He raised his voice slightly to command the court to depart, Orpheus fidgeted beside Persephone until she curtly commanded him to wait outside the doors.

Persephone heard the echoing clang of the doors closing behind sweet Orpheus. Alone with Hades, she was about to open her mouth to begin her petition on the mortals' behalf when Hades flung himself forwards from where he sat. 

She shut her mouth with a snap.

A few long strides brought him close to her, towering over her and with his strong arms, he pulled her closer yet.

'Persephone,' he murmured, cupping her face in his hands and dragging his cool, firm lips accross her brow, 'tell me why you have come.'


	7. Chapter 7

Persephone made her way to the double set of doors that stood closed at the far end of her husband's court. Cautious excitement bubbled up in her throat, perhaps her husband was not so completely unbending as she had once believed.   
She touched the handle, an onyx carving of a serpent with glittering sapphire eyes, preparing to wrench it open with all her might but was surprised when the door swung free at a gentle push.  
Orpheus, predictably, was white faced and anxiously waiting on the other side. Persephone smiled at him, relieved for his sake that there was hope.  
'Come forward, blessed Orpheus. My Lord Husband, the unbending King Hades has agreed to hear and consider your case- bring your lyre.' And with that, she turned on her toes and made her way back to the waiting King.  
His countenance, upon Orpheus' greeting and obeisance, could not have been less encouraging. To the widowers credit, his voice did not desert him in his fear and his hands, that had trembled visibly when he brushed the sweat from his brow, were steady and sure as he plucked at the lyre.  
Mournful notes filled the cavernous hall, Orpheus himself wept as he played- still Hades' face remained as hard as the diamonds that decorated his royal seat. When the last echoing note of Orpheus' plea faded into nothingness, Hades turned to his wife.  
'The mortal makes his case well,' he said lowly, 'you are not impervious to such tragedies then? You would have me permit a soul to leave my domain? I have never done so before.' Hades reached out his hand to her face and with a fingertip, traced the course of a tear down her soft cheek. The tear ran down to her jaw, Persephone held her breath as Hades, spellbound, watched it fall to her chest. Neither moved.   
A discordant, loud twang came from the man awaiting judgement and their majesties turned abruptly to regard him as he finished setting down his lyre.   
Hades scowled at Orpheus and the bard instinctively dropped to his knees. The King of the Underworld rose from his throne and moved to tower over his, still seated, wife. He bent to murmur in her ear, his lips a breath away from brushing against the lobe. 'If I do this,' his voice was deep and gentle- like that of a lover, 'If I let him take back his wife, to _please_ you, what are you willing to give _me_.'  
His Queen did not shrink away as she would have wished to, they were under observation and it would not help the cause of this poor man if she spurned mighty Hades' in front of him. She tilted her face towards him slightly, but kept her eyes on Orpheus- whose trembling had returned, he was about to lose his nerve.  
'There is nothing, Lord Hades, that I have, that _you_ have not given me. I have no favours to grant that are not already yours to command.' she whispered smoothly, he withdrew slightly, at that and she carried on, pleading. 'If there is something in particular that you would have me give, your majesty has but to name it. Take pity on this poor man, husband- _I pity him_ , please...give him the _chance_ at happiness.'  
Hades reached down and clasped her hand in both of his. 'Look at me.' He commanded, 'My compassion is not so absent as you might think, I will do this for you- but if I do, my price is yours to bear.' He raised her hand up to his unsmiling mouth, his eyes on hers. She stared at him, wide eyed. She raised her brows in enquiry, Hades turned over the hand in his and dropped another kiss on her palm. Persephone shivered. 'It is simply this, when the time comes for to return to my side, you must do so as my willing wife.'  
She froze, ice encased her heart once more and, after the uncomfortable heat and flutterings that he had very recently aroused in her, she welcomed the clarity of the cold. Turning her face away she fixed her eyes on the unclaimed hand that lay idly in her lap. 'Are you asking me to walk down into your kingdom of my own accord, sir, or for me to fall in _love_ with you?'  
An unyielding finger was pressed under her chin and her gaze forced to meet his once more. His eyes glittered, hard and as stern as ever they had been but his voice caught a little, as he spoke her name. 'Persephone, I will demand nothing else from you that you cannot willingly give. I want you to come home to me, your husband, without forcing me to wrest you from your mother's arms.'  
Her expression must have communicated her disbelief. He would not _take _what she did not wish to give him? He was _Hades_ , there was nothing of hers that he did not own, that he had not already taken.   
Persephone set her jaw, she had promised aid to this mortal who, unlike the stone hearted individual before her, was capable of deep abiding love. Hades' Queen would finish what she started.  
'I have already demonstrated my willingness to return to your realm uncoerced, Majesty. What you ask is not so very great a price.' she said, coolly, 'You have my word, I shall come back to this realm without troubling you to fetch me.'  
Her acceptance of his terms did not, apparently, delight King Hades for he did not look in the least bit victorious. Hades dipped his head in a curt nod, and for the first time, turned to speak to Orpheus.  
'My Lady Wife has interceded for yours, mortal. You are to have the _chance_ to return your wife to the land of the living. Harken to my words, Orpheus. Turn around, walk from here back up to the world above. Look neither to the left, nor to the right and on no account must you turn around. Euridice is behind you. If you look back into the land of the dead, there will be no second reprieve from me. Her Majesty has agreed to pay the price of my mercy, if you squander it- render it worthless- my wrath will fall on you. Go.'  
Persephone stood quickly. 'I will bear you company partway, Orpheus- I must return above also.' She curtseyed to Hades, 'I bid you a temporary farewell, my Lord. I will come back...willingly.'   
To her surprise, he smiled faintly. 'I do not doubt your word, Lady. Farewell, then.'  
Persephone stared blankly at him, for a moment, marvelling at how even the slightest softening of his face made him impossibly handsome. The unwelcome train of thought made her smile nervously back and hurry after Orpheus and the gliding glimmer of light that followed him.  
They walked in silence to the river, Orpheus was clutching his lyre so tightly that his fingers turned white from the pressure. Persephone tried to encourage him.   
'Have faith, faithful Orpheus- your love is behind you, here is where we part. I will go on ahead of you, remain here and wait for the return of the ferryman. Do not look anywhere but onward! Do not waste your chance!'  
Orpheus, his eyes never leaving the point of light in the far distance, smiled tremulously. 'I owe you a very great debt, o gentle Queen! I will sing ballads in praise of your beauty and mercy until my dying day.'  
Persephone let out the ghost of a laugh. 'Perhaps not, mortal- it is best not to praise the fairness of one woman when your wife shadows behind you. There is one thing you may do for me, bard. Tell the tale of my abduction, sing of the resolution that the Fates dictated. Do not let the world forget that such a goddess as Kore existed, even though _I_ may yet forget. Promise me, Orpheus, and your debt to me is forgiven.'  
'My lady! Yes. I promise, I will not forget.'  
Persephone's shoulders sagged in relief, if the silver tongued Orpheus were to tell her sad story, the world would remember forever, she was sure of it. It was important, she felt, in these times of great upheaval and change, that her past be known. She was no longer 'Kore' and she could not be spoken of by the cursed name 'Persephone'. She had been fearful that she might fade into nameless obscurity if the truth were not known.  
'Well then, Orpheus, I wish you well. Keep your courage, she is close by you- if you do not falter, your happiness is attainable.' She looked behind him to Euridice, whose form and features were becoming clearer as she neared the entrance to Hades' realm. There was no expression to be seen on the womans' face yet, it was all an indistinct blur- but the shade raised her hand and Persephone knew instinctively, that it meant gratitude. The thanks lightened her heavy heart and she felt glad that someone so worthy should have their hearts desire.  
The ferryman bore the Queen back across the river and this time instead of feeling unnerved by his watchfulness, she lifted her chin and looked calmly back at him. She may be barefoot and clad like a common maiden, but she felt every inch a queen when the boatman turned his head and nervously averted his gaze. It was a petty victory, perhaps.  
Persephone, once more under Zeus' vast skies, saw that the stars were flung across the heavens and that Selene's moon shone brightly down upon her. The night was clear and warm, it would not be long before sweet Dawn brought morning to the world above.   
Walking home across fields of corn, skirting the sleepy houses that dotted the countryside, Persephone felt free. It was not often that she was truly alone, neither her mother nor her husband were likely to let her roam either world as she pleased, she relished the precious fragment of liberty that she had. She was smiling by the time she approached her mother's meadow, she saw Demeter waiting anxiously- looking out for her return and she sped up to meet her.  
Demeter scolded her daughter for going to see 'that man,' and Persephone, although trying very hard to understand her dear mother's worry, could not help but bristle slightly. She was the Queen of the Underworld, she had already faced the most terrifying thing imaginable, abduction by King Hades. What did Demeter think could happen to her here?   
That evening, she removed and twisted up her white gown, putting it aside to be washed in the stream. Perhaps tomorrow, she could think about weaving some new dresses- that would be to her liking and not given to her by a mother or husband. It might be possible to find something regal enough for her position and _daughterly_ enough for Demeter. Humming softly to herself, Persephone settled down to watch the sunrise, so very different from the artifice of the new day in Hades' kingdom; not more beautiful necessarily, just _different._  
She could find a sort of contentment in this odd life she had, this divided life in which she was both wife and daughter but never at the same time. She realised, with a start that she was not afraid to return to her husband when the time came, partially because there was an end to look forward to but also because he had treated her with consideration today.   
The dreaded Hades had upturned an eternity of precedent in order to please _her_ , a slip of a girl who had no real importance, not even to the feeble minded mortals. Just the thought of it made her shake her head in absolute astonishment.__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter of this is already written and just needs editing, which I _might_ have time to do after Christmas. Thank you for the lovely, supportive comments that you have left, it really does make a huge difference to how I feel about settling down to write.
> 
> Oh and Marquesa, a couple of people have mentioned that you directed them to this...thank you so much.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of your very kind responses! I'm not sure how its happened but my favourite story of mine, seems to be gaining interest!
> 
> I'm sorry about the spacing in the last chapter, the lovely people at A03 are going to sort it out I think. Paragraphs seem to be working today. :)

The remaining months of her time with Demeter flew by. It was plain to Persephone that her mother began to grieve her absence even before she left the happy, sunlit meadow. The weather in that last week, turned cooler and the fresh green leaves that adorned the forest trees began to wither and turn to browns and reds- nature mourned with Demeter. 

Persephone understood that anticipatory grief, even as it frustrated that her mother grew more morose- she wanted to enjoy what time they had left together. 

They breakfasted together, one morning. Worshippers had left beautiful, plaited loaves of bread at the temple and they ate it in silence under the bright warm sun. Once they had finished eating, Demeter reached out to take her daughter’s hand, playing with the slender fingers.

'It has brought me such joy, my darling, to have you here with me. For a while...I feared that I should never see you again- I feared that somehow you had perished, alone and away from _me_.'

The younger goddess laid a gentle hand on Demeter's arm. 'I have been happy to be home with you, mother. I was not in any grave peril, in those days away from you.' She paused and bit her lip, considering her next words. 'Mother. _Dear_ Mother, you...you _will_ look after the earth while I am gone, will you not? I _shall_ come home in half a year. The mortals, dearest, they are so...so _weak_.'

Demeter frowned. 'Do you lecture me on my duty, Kore? Will you not miss me as much as I will mourn you?' She dropped the little hand and rose, agitated. 'Never mind, it was a foolish question, of course you could not- you cannot _possibly_ understand the love of a mother. Hear me, my daughter. Until you come home I will not pour bounty on the earth- it shall be as frozen and dormant as my poor broken heart.'

Persephone stood also, brushing the crumbs from her dress. 'Mother! You _cannot_ be so cruel! People would _starve_ , even though you know that I will be _safe_ , that I will come back to you. Why?'

Demeter whirled on her, her colour high and her eyes brimming with tears. 'Safe? With that man? The man who took your girlhood, your person and who knows what else from you? From _me_.' 

Persephone smiled wryly. 'I think that there would be few who would seek to harm that which _belongs_ to Hades, mother. He is known for his jealousy over that which is his; and I am, after all, his wife. I don't suggest that his reasons for keeping me safe are as pure or as beautiful as yours, no one can love me as you do mother. Please, I don't wish to fight- let us enjoy these last few days.' 

Demeter smiled sadly and opened her arms. Persephone stepped into them and rested her cheek on her mother's shoulder. What she did not say to her mother was that, after talking with the nymphs who kept her company much of the time, she had come to understand that Hades, although she had not realised it at the time, had been gentle with her in a way that not all men were with women. She was grateful for that, and for the first time had wondered if her father had treated her mother with the violent passion that some of the nymphs seemed to think was common. It was not a subject she would ever raise, there were somethings that were best left well alone.

She felt Demeter straighten her shoulders and stepped back from her. The harvest goddess held her at arms length and looked at her fondly. 

'You are right of course, my love. When did you become so brave? Come now, turn about for me- I wish to see your latest new gown.' 

Laughingly, Persephone obliged- turning this way and that as instructed. She had thought long and hard about the matter of her dress. It had seemed wrong, somehow to dress as she had done in her innocence, but at the same time- she could not very well wander about the countryside dressed in the royal robes and jewels that Hades had provided. She invoked quite enough fear in those who encountered her as it was, Persephone had no desire to terrorize people.

In the end, she had settled for a few gowns that were the colour of jewels and of a simple elegant design. They suited her she felt, and when she put them on was quite content with her choice. It was nice to decide for herself what to wear. Demeter had always supplied her clothes in her innocence and then Hades had arrayed her as a pampered queen. In these gowns, she was not clothed as either the dread Queen of the Underworld or as Springtime, but simply as herself. It was... _liberating._

The day came when she had to return to the world below, the sun had risen on a changed world that morning. The leaves had fallen to the ground just as surely as Demeter's tears had fallen from her bright eyes. 

Persephone donned a light cloak that was the colour of polished emeralds and kissed her mother sweetly. She had said a soft farewell to the nymphs who had borne her company for many hours and set off towards the dark River Acheron. She did not, could not, look back at her mother as she walked away- to do so would be to falter and she would not break her promise to Hades, that she would return willingly to his side.

As she approached her destination, being just a short way off, two men fell into step with her- flanking her. One looked vaguely familiar and she stopped short to look at him, trying to puzzle out where she had seen this face before. He was clearly either a god or descended from them, no mere mortal sported such a face or figure. 

The man, misinterpreting her curious gaze, flashed her a charming, easy smile. 'Fair lady, your humble servants beg your favour.' 

'Who are you?' She asked lightly, 'I feel I have seen you before, but your companion never. Speak then, friend.'

The golden haired man grinned widely at this, like a hunter who had just caught his prey. 'You do me great honour, my lady- to even remember my face. I am Pirithous, we dined together at your presentation on Mount Olympus. This is Theseus, he bears me company on my difficult quest.'

Something like foreboding tickled at the back of Persephone's neck. 'What manner of quest do you undertake, honourable Pirithous?' She responded, setting off again at a quicker pace. 

Once more that smile. The golden haired Theseus dropped back, out of her eyeline and she turned to keep him in sight. 'Simply the finding of a wife who is worthy of me, my lady.' 

Persephone frowned at the arrogance, whilst turning her back on Pirithous, who circled her -like a vulture- and simultaneously trying to keep track of the quick, sly movements of his friend. One stood behind her and one in front and she was ready to cry out in alarm when a sack came over her head. 

She struggled. Kicking out with her legs and feeling the pain of a successful kick shooting up her ankle. A club or some blunt weapon was swung at her head and stunned her. The poor, frightened girl dropped to the ground in a heap and rough rope was wound tightly, cruelly around her wrists. 

She heard Pirithous' soft laughter and Theseus’ deep voice urging him to hurry up and drag her away from the open country. 

Her head ached, her foot hurt but she opened her mouth and screamed as loudly as she could. The careless fools had not gagged her, mercifully. 

Theseus swore and clamped a hand over her mouth, above the hessian sacking that blocked her vision, she twisted and writhed in his grasp, breaking free and wailing once more.

'Hades! Hades! Help me, husband, _please_!' 

'Shut her up, will you? If we get caught, we are doomed. For goodness sakes, Pirithous! Why _didn't_ we knock her out first?'

She was suddenly thrust forward, throwing her off balance and once more a club was swung at her head. The blow struck true and pain exploded in her head. Persephone concentrated on taking deep breaths, trying desperately to remain conscious. 

Falling to the ground once more, she vaguely heard a shout of alarm- she could not guess from whom- and the frantic flapping of wings. Persephone, dizzied and sick with fright, felt claws dig into her shoulders and was all of a sudden lifted high. 

In her confusion, she doubted her senses, was she being carried through the air or had that second blow knocked all sense and reason from her head? She could see nothing through the sack and the air she breathed tasted acrid and foul. She fought still, for consciousness- hoping that if she could only remain awake, perhaps there might be some _hope_ of escape for her. 

She was once more dropped, a short while later, after being swung about dreadfully. She heard muffled voices speaking, but could not make out the words or even who might be talking. If _only_ she did not faint! Her face felt hot and wet and she knew that the liquid that ran into her eyes was her own blood. A mortal would certainly have perished by now.

The sack was lifted off her and the Queen closed her eyes against the blood that was flowing, too freely, into them. She snapped them open again when she heard the resounding bellow of rage from who ever had freed her from it. 

Hades. 

The waters of the River Styx lapped against the shore that she had been dropped on. Her husband stood; dark robed and furious, with the rough sack still in his hand. Hades seemed bigger, darker somehow- she was reminded of the images behind his throne, depicting him as a fearsome warrior. 

Two of the Furies still had their talons in the shoulders of her would be abductors, Tisiphone, who had carried her, crouched nearby- awaiting Hades' command. 

'Take them to Tartarus- keep them alive.' he spat out the words, all somber regality forgotten. The god who ruled over the dead was in the grips of a beastly anger, such had never before been seen. He was snarling, like a feral animal at the fools who had tried to take his queen as they were borne aloft by gleeful Erinyes.

Hades reached down and lifted her up, his chariot stood by and she remembered the last time she had been carefully taken up this hill, after an abduction. Persephone clung to Hades this time, had she not done so, she was sure that she would faint or vomit. He was stone like in his solidity, a safe anchor to depend on for strength- she thought as she slipped her arms about his waist without even a hesitation.

She tried to wipe the blood out of her eyes with her cloak, which was probably now ruined, she thought irrelevantly, but gave up. What she needed was a large basin of hot water and a soft cloth. Then bed. 

She was unused to feeling tired, goddess as she was, and she knew that her injuries were grievous by the fatigue that spread through her. Gods were almost impossible to kill, but if seriously injured relied heavily on the healing power of sleep to make them well again. 

Persephone closed her eyes against Hades' strong shoulder and remained thus until he set her down on his bed. He stared at her, seemingly devoid of words his chest heaving with the effort of self control. A servant entered, bearing a bowl of steaming water, sweetly scented with fragrant oils. Hades waved the girl away and himself set to work dipping a piece of creamy silk into the water. 

Persephone lay still and docile as her husband tenderly washed her face and bound up her wounds. He seemed to recollect himself, the closer he got to completing his task and by the time soft bandages had been wrapped carefully around her gashed wrists, his breathing had calmed and his teeth no longer bared ready for _murder_.

She broke the silence first.

'Thank you.' she rasped, her throat was raw. He rose and crossed the room, reaching for a goblet of wine which he brought to her lips and helped her drink. 'I'm sorry,' she said lowly, when her throat was soothed, 'that you were put to the trouble of fetching me, after all.'


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, *deep breath*.
> 
> This chapter was hideously, horribly, _awful_ to get written. So if you could squint over any errors in it, i'd be very grateful!
> 
> Thank you for your kind comments last chapter, its so AMAZING to hear from those of you who are reading, I can't even tell you how happy comments make me. 
> 
> If you are expecting Pirithous and Theseus to get dealt with this chapter, I'm afraid you will be disappointed, that's for chapter 10. Hades had to realise something quite important first. I was as surprised as you.
> 
> Oh, and I'm sorry for how erratic my posting is. If you don't know already, there is a little 'subscribe' button at the top of the page that will send you an email when I update- it also lets me keep track of how many of you are actually reading! :)

He looked at her, seemingly dumbfounded for several long moments, and Persephone inwardly squirmed, feeling that her feeble attempt at a jest had gone sadly awry. She closed her eyes in an attempt to lessen her embarrassment.

Hades sat down beside her on the great bed and drew a soft blanket over her. ‘Sleep, little wife. Your injuries are severe.’ His voice, that low pleasing caress to her senses, was close to the shell of her ear and she opened her eyes to see him lean over her and gently kiss her bloodied forehead. 

Curiosity, which was _not_ a vice she usually struggled to contain, made her grasp at his hand and voice her questions. ‘Husband, please. I’ll not rest well until I know what those men wanted with me! I have met Pirithous _once_ , Lord Hades, and I have no notion of why he sought to harm me.’

Hades eyes grew darker and the tender expression in them was replaced by a steely thirst for blood to be spilled. His hand, still entwined with hers was to his lips and he rained kisses on her trembling fingers. Doubtless they would show bruising very soon. ‘I will find out, my dear. I had them sent to Tartarus, I hope the Erinyes don’t send them mad with anguish- I intend to _question_ them once you are well again. A day or two _there_ will loosen their tongues, they will _beg_ to confess once the Furies get started.’’

The sheer ferocity in his voice when he spoke of Pirithous and Theseus sent a shiver through the battered girl on the bed. Hades noticed it and drew off his cloak to cover his wife. 

‘Thank you,’ she whispered, for the second time that day. ‘Thank you for hearing me. Thank you for sending help. I don’t...’ tears leaked from her eyes, she barely registered them, ‘I cannot even think of what might have happened had you not done so.’ 

Her gratitude and fear must have been clearly shown on her face, for Hades hauled her to him and his arms fastened about her like a vice. He breathed into her hair. ‘I will always come when you bid me near you, Persephone. I sent the furies because they are faster than I, both in the Underworld and above. I have fought in a war so terrible that it would make your precious blood run cold, and _then_ I went into battle unafraid. When I felt you calling for me, the _terror_ in your voice, my darling...I hope never to feel so powerless again.’

Persephone was silent, she pitied him, in the same way she had pitied her mother when _he_ had taken her. It was plain to her, in this moment, wrapped as he was around her that he did not value her as a mere possession- there was clearly more than that in his heart. Whatever strength of affection he had for her, hers could not match it...and she pitied him for that too. 

Persephone felt no shame in the peace that enveloped her, as she rested in his strong arms, though. In his bed, with this fearsome god protecting her- from even the _cold_ , she did not feel so afraid. Her ordeal was over, for now. She would sleep and recover, and in the morning she would muster up the courage to deal out dire punishment to the fools who would attack a Queen. 

It was bloodthirsty thought, unusually for her, but she drifted off gently to sleep regardless- with a slight smile turning up her lips.

************

When she awoke, Hades was still beside her. She looked inquiringly up at him when he noticed that she was conscious and he looked rather pleased as he passed her a cup of cool, fresh water.

‘I _would_ have left you to slumber in peace, my Lady; but alas, you were utterly unwilling to permit it.’

‘Oh!’ his wife blushed, realising that at some point during her rest, she had wound herself around her husband tighter than ivy on a solid branch. She disentangled herself, feeling quite self conscious when his dark eyes did not leave her. 

Persephone did not think she was vain, but clambering off the bed and heading straight towards a mirror gave her a moment to compose herself. She supposed she ought to see the extent of the damage, after all. 

The most severe of her injuries had healed, there was no blood left on her face and the wounds had knit themselves into tight, brown scars. Her forehead looked the worst, she supposed, a mottled purple with green at the edges. Persephone grimaced. 

‘I think I shall wait until I am fully healed before I confront my attackers. They need to know they are dealing with a goddess after all.’ She said it mildly, but allowed the slightest edge of firmness to creep into her words. Hades was looking amused, so she raised her chin for good measure.

Her husband leaned back against his pillows, she could see the indentation where she had just lain and felt heat rise up her neck once more as she watched his elegant hands smooth the creases out of the cover idly.

‘And what makes you think I will permit such a thing, my dear?’

‘Hades! I must! I deserve to have my vengeance!’

‘You shall have it, little wife- I shall dole it out for you. You need not subject yourself to such unpleasantness.’

Persephone felt her temper rise. ‘Husband! You cannot mean it! Please, I entreat you.’

Something gleamed in his eyes that she could not name. ‘How the innocent maiden has been corrupted!’ he sighed, amusement still playing about his lips ‘Sweet Persephone; who used to turn away from the tears of the condemned shades now bargaining for a part in my judgement.’ Hades rose gracefully from his bed and stood, holding out his hand in invitation. She padded over to him and took it. ‘I suspect,’ he continued, slowly, ‘that one of those men has looked on _my_ wife with lust in his eyes and if he does it again in front of me...’

‘What?’ she prompted, curious once again.

‘I am likely lose my temper and kill him too soon, my dear. Once he is dead, I can consign him to eternal suffering- but I want his death drawn out,’ Hades voice softened to a dangerous hiss. ‘I want him to beg for his life whilst teetering endlessly on that agonizing brink that lies between living and dying. They _will_ regret their foolishness.’

Persephone couldn’t account for it, really she couldn’t, but she reached up and pressed her lips to his. The response was instantaneous, Hades kissed her ruthlessly in return and had just brought his hands up to drag the sleeves of her dress from her shoulders when a knock sounded at the door.

Blocking her from sight of the door with his body, Hades granted permission to enter. His eyes never left hers.

‘Well?’ he said coldly, to the male servant who hovered by the door. 

‘News has just reached us, great King. Lord Hephaestus requests entrance to your realm.’ 

Persephone, standing so close to him, saw Hades’ eyebrows raise in disdain. ‘Bid him come, then.’ he was all he said. 

‘He mentioned her majesty, sire.’ The messenger spoke again, carefully. 

Hades, his face suddenly turned unreadable, turned around to face the man. ‘In what manner?’ he enquired.

‘Lord Hephaestus wishes to present her with a gift, my King.’

Hades paused and then with deliberate exaggeration, waved the man away.‘Very well. Be gone.’ Bowing low, the messenger fled.

Persephone smiled slightly at the quick exit of Hades’ servant, amused at her husband's lack of concern that he terrified nearly all he encountered. She understood, a little now, that to be so feared was to live a lonely life. It was an isolation she had encountered upon returning above the earth as his queen.

He stooped and swiftly kissed her. ‘You need not come, if you do not feel well enough- my dear.’ he said. ‘I can... _dispense_ with the blacksmith.’ 

She did not feel well, in truth, but neither would she lay abed whilst the King of the Underworld terrorized the gentle, lame Hephaestus; who had braved the realms of death in order to bring her a present. Besides, she was _curious_. She took his arm and lightly guided him to the door, he moved easily to her slight pressure.

Hades attentively shortened his stride to match hers, as they made their way through the bright hallways of the palace towards the throne room. The consideration was one she was grateful for, she was still achingly sore.

Hephaestus, the god of craftsmanship, stood before the dias and turned, bowing low as they entered. In his hand he held a rough, hessian sack and Persephone stiffened at the sight of it. Bravely lifting her chin, she mounted the shallow steps with Hades’ assistance and sat, gratefully on her throne.

‘Speak then, son of Hera. What brings you to our realm?’ Hades was not precisely rude to Hephaestus, but there was something...sinister, in his manner of speech that caused Persephone’s eyebrows to twitch together. 

‘I bring gifts, for your Lady queen- in honor of your illustrious marriage- majesty.’ Raising his eyes at last to her face, Persephone saw the shocked disbelief flash across Hephaestus’ face. The conclusion he drew was clear, his eyes immediately flicked to Hades and his next words were nigh on spat out. ‘I have heard of the decree of the fates...this device will mark the passing of time, without need of the sun. It will give you, o queen, a reliable indication of when your time to leave _here_ approaches.’ 

He withdrew his hand from the sack, holding a dark orb with lights shining like the stars from within it. He approached the steps cautiously, his eyes taking in her poor abused face,expression furious and held out the device to her. She was about to reach forward and take it when Hades stood abruptly and intercepted it and passing the gift to his wife, who took it with a quizzical lift of her brow.

Persephone touched the orb carefully, from within a mechanical clicking could be heard, a little like the chirp of crickets that she had so often heard as a girl. Smiling, she raised it to her ear to listen more carefully. Hades stood by, glaring at Hephaestus, who stood his ground. 

‘Tell me, coppersmith, how can this tell me such things as you claim?’ she asked softly, intrigued.

Hephaestus stood a little taller under her notice. Hades returned to his throne. ‘It is a matter of being able to read it, my lady.’ he said, grinning with enthusiasm for his art.. ‘The largest of the lights represents the sun above and the red glow depicts the main light of this kingdom. As time progresses, they each move away from each other within the globe and when they cross- that is your time to depart or _return._ ’

Persephone beamed at him and reached out her hand for him to kiss. ‘I thank you then, friend. Your skilled craftsmanship is famed for good reason. I daresay I shall keep it beside my bed, always.’

Hephaestus limped forward to bestow a light, courteous kiss on the tips of the queen’s fingers releasing them gently when he heard an ominous low rumble from her husband. 

Persephone’s cheeks spread with warm colour as she thought guiltily of Hades’ words to her before they were wed. That he would guard what was his, that he would indeed be a _jealous_ husband. Had she flaunted him, just now- even unintentionally? Where was the cautious, ever respectful attitude that she had so carefully preserved in his presence? Had it melted away with a few passionate kisses?

Perhaps the excitement of her return had addled her wits. She leant across the arm of her chair and laid a hand on Hades forearm. The muscles beneath her hand were taut and as hard as the glittering diamonds that were embedded in his throne.

Hephaestus spoke. ‘Perhaps I might beg a word in private, my lady?’

Persephone opened her mouth to deny him but was forestalled by the haughty Hades.

‘You might _beg_ all you please, _lame one_ but any words you for my _wife_ must and shall be uttered before _me_.

Hephaestus was not a coward. It was true that physically speaking, he was weaker and more repellent than the others of his race but he _was_ a god, nonetheless. He would not, _could_ not allow such blatant disdain pass unnoted, not even from the august king whose halls he now stood within.

‘I believe I addressed my lady.’ he drawled. His arm, strengthened by long hours hammering at his forge, flexed. Not quite a threat, not precisely a challenge. The slight movement was noted however, and Hades casually, insultingly, swung his sceptre to and fro. The subtle message was clear.

‘Not so,’ responded Hades quietly, ‘you addressed _my_ lady. Have a care with your words, _lame one_ , should you be any more familiar with the Queen of the Underworld, you may find yourself robbed of them.’

‘Is that a threat?’ 

Hades laughed. The room rang with it, softly derisive and so very assured. ‘I am not famed for idle threats, son of Hera. Speak then, and leave. You grow tiresome and my lady grows weary.’

Persephone, who had remained silent and watchful in the face of their barely restrained aggression, soothingly stroked the arm that remained hard under her hand. 

‘Indeed, kind Lord Hephaestus, do speak- if you bear a message from my mother, there is no reason why my husband should not hear it.’

Hades’ arm relaxed, ever so slightly at her words and soft ministrations. 

Hephaestus looked confused. ‘I bear no such greeting, o queen. I wished to offer...protection...in the face of your injuries. Should you be in need of _refuge_ \- I am at your command.’ 

Hades leapt from his throne, his face full of thunder. ‘Fool! You would steal my wife from _me_! You would dare...’

Persephone stood also, reaching out for him. ‘Husband, please! I am sure that no such suggestion was intended. Lord Hephaestus may have...I believe he may have reached the wrong conclusion regarding my injuries.’ She stepped close to Hades, her instinct guiding her to offer reassurance to soothe and calm the towering rage she could see building in him. She turned to Hephaestus. ‘Sir, I thank you for your kindness but...his majesty is not responsible for this.’ With her free hand, she indicated her face. ‘On my return to the Underworld, I was set upon by a pair of vicious mortals, my Lord Husband _saved_ me, sir. It is _his_ protection that I shall rely upon.’

Hephaestus gaped at her, his rugged face alight with astonishment. ‘I beg your majesty's’ pardon, then,’ he said graciously, at length. He paused, awkwardly shifting his weight from his lame leg, ‘but... _mortals_ you say? It is unheard of. I cannot understand it.’

Hades wrapped his arms about Persephone and drew her close to him. ‘You are not required to _understand_ it, Hephaestus. It is _I_ who must understand it, my wife shall be avenged. One of them at least is a demigod, he sought to abduct her, to make her his. Such a crime cannot go unpunished. I will see to it.’ Here Hades lifted a hand to rhythmically stroke the hair of the woman in his arms, heedless of Hephaestus’ fascinated gaze. Persephone, embarrassed by such open affection turned her face to Hades’ shoulder. She was so tired.

Hephaestus could not tear his eyes away from the royal pair in front of him, Hades looked back, knowingly. The great and powerful god of the kingdom of death knew well the envy that was in his heart. What male could meet with such a woman and _not_ be affected by her? Hades knew, and would keep what was his. The blushing goddess had absolutely no idea how very _appealing_ she was. He could not win this battle, but perhaps he could leave with some dignity if he could at least crack Hades’ blasted superiority.

Hephaestus inclined his head, readying himself for the retreat. ‘I am quite sure that the Lady will be well protected from now on, then. I wonder, your Majesty, if your punishment to those who assaulted her will be more grievous because their _crime_ against her, echoes your own, so very... _closely_.’

Persephone stiffened against Hades and turned, wide eyed to look on Hephaestus. What could possibly have prompted him to make such an audacious remark? He looked unrepentant, triumphant even. She turned her head to Hades, expecting to see him preparing for a murder. 

Instead, he was staring blank faced at the blacksmith, a tumult of emotion stormed in his dark eyes. He did not move, not towards Hephaestus, nor away from her. He stood stock still, save for the suddenly rapid moving of his chest. The hand that had been stroking Persephone’s dark curls clenched into a fist in her hair.

Hades swallowed. ‘Very well, lame one. Your point is well made.’ he sounded thunderstruck.

The King of the Underworld looked down at the gentle, sweet goddess by his side. A whole world of feeling was in his eyes but his voice was flat as he addressed the cunning craftsman one last time.

‘Now get... _out._ ’


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Yes. I actually quite like this chapter, not sure its up everyone's street- but aside from the first chapters, its been one of the easier ones to write. You know, bit of vicious judgement being doled out...why on earth _wouldn't_ the words flow on to the page?
> 
> **Here is your warning. This may be unpleasant to some of you, there is blood and nastiness ahead. Skip it if you don't care for that sort of thing.**
> 
> I'm a little overwhelmed by how lovely you all are, I have been having such kind comments left for me to enjoy and it looks like this chapter will push us over a thousand hits. yikes!
> 
> When I started this, I was aware that not many people flock to this fandom, but I was completely willing to write it anyway because I couldn't resist. I figured that if one person read it and enjoyed it then it would be utterly worth it. 
> 
> Thank you for your support.

Persephone stood, in the circle of her husbands’ arms long after Hephaestus had left. She remained silent, unsure what to say that might ease the awkwardness that had settled over them. Hades had stooped to bury his face in her hair and she felt him trembling. 

 

He said nothing, making no sound, but neither did he release her. Persephone, kind hearted as she was, wished that the blacksmith god had retreated sooner. It _was_ true that Hades had abducted her just as it was unavoidably certain that Pirithous and Theseus had sought to do the same. Nevertheless, what good did it do to raise such a subject? She had eaten the food of the dead, she was irrevocably under the rule of King Hades- even as she ruled over his subjects. She could admit to herself that she did not like to see this proud, mighty man so distressed. 

 

Eventually, when her head spun and only his arms kept her standing; Hades raised his head. He avoided her gaze, but not even his carefully blank expression could hide the glaze of tears that he did not allow to fall.

 

He took a step back, bowing to her and she closed her eyes against a wave of nausea that rose up in her throat.

 

‘Come. You should rest. If you insist upon your revenge against Pirithous and the half-wit King of Athens, you will need to at least be able to stand under your own power. Rest until the center of the earth is cloaked with red, then we shall go to Tartarus.’

 

He half carried her back to her room, Persephone made no objection. The gift from Hephaestus was placed gently on a polished table. Her husband drew the cover up over her shoulders and bent to whisper a kiss to her mouth. She was asleep in moments, but found her mind plagued by strange dreams in which Hades and Demeter circled the globe around her, never crossing and always so very far apart. She heard the voices of strange men in her nightmares and fancied that she heard their howls of agony all the way from Tartarus.

 

***********

She was woken, when rosy light bounced obnoxiously through her window, by the usual procession of maids to assist her in dressing. She was glad of the ornate robes and jewels they so carefully arrayed her in. Such finery provided her with a feminine sort of armour against her nerves. They powdered her face, tinted her lips and dressed her dark curls with oil before pinning on her diadem. 

 

When Persephone looked at herself in the mirror she drew herself up with pride at the sight that met her eyes. With her chin up and dressed in her splendour, she looked every bit as _powerful_ as Hades’ consort ought to look. It was only when she stepped closer to her reflection, after waving the silent women away, that she saw that old timidity lurking within.. She _would_ conquer her fear of displeasing, if only for today. Today was a chance to set her name firmly into the legends and tales of the mortals. Whatever she had told Orpheus, she had no desire to be forever painted by men as a helpless victim of circumstance. Something inside her, something unequivocally _her_ , told her that she was worthy of something more than that, she simply had to take it.

 

The king met her at the door of her chambers, surprising her again by bowing in response to her slight obeisance. His eyes warmed as they rested on her black gown. 

 

‘That is....a very striking effect, my Queen. It was well thought of.’

 

Hades himself looked no less intimidating. He wore his shining armour of gold and atop his head perched his famed helm of invisibility, crafted by Hephaestus himself in the fires of Mount Etna. He saw her looking at it curiously and remarked gravely, ‘It seems that for all his shortcomings, the lame craftsman provides much that is useful.’ He offered his arm and they went out together to his chariot. 

 

Persephone still disliked the stamping, furious beasts and neither was she pleased by their extreme pace or lurching gait. She could accept though, this time, that having Hades’ arms either side of her was certainly reassuring. He would never let her fall.

 

They rode, quickly, to the furthest edges of the Underworld, far away from her favoured willow grove and beyond sight of the Elysian Fields where the shades all grovelled on the ground as their chariot sped past.

 

The landscape, never especially verdant in the Underworld, became desolate and bleak. Nothing grew, nothing stirred. The ground began to slope downwards and as they descended, the air became sparse and tasted of rotting flesh. The light grew dimmer and dimmer, until the blackness closed in around the chariot and its occupants. Hades did not seem perturbed, neither did he seem confounded by the lack of light. He guided his horses unerringly through the inky nothingness until the faintest glimmering glow appeared in the distance and a dark walled city could just be made out ahead.

 

She heard the screams, even before they came within sight of the gates of Tartarus. The horses, held securely by her husband, laid back their ears and whinnied in response to the blood curdling howls of the condemned. Persephone stiffened. Part of her, the part that came from the sheltered home with her mother, did not wish to enter this place. The place for the condemned, which even the gods did not mention casually. She would not quail. She would not plead and beg with her husband to spare her this grim task for which she had entreated him. He would remain with her, she knew this much and took comfort from it.

 

The great gates that securely guarded all manner of horrors opened wide at a gesture from their master. Cerberus, the dark, three headed hound of hell, gnashed its teeth and breathed foul breath upon them as they passed between its massive paws. 

 

Persephone’s crown weighed heavily on her head but she did not allow her head to sink beneath its pressing authority. When Hades held the horses still, he assisted her down and squeezed her hand in reassurance.

 

‘It is not far, the Erinyes would not have taken them to the depths, they will be nearby.’ He looked grim, this was not a place which anyone would willingly come to, yet Hades sojourned to Tartarus whensoever his duty demanded it of him. She could admire that bravery.

 

One of the furies flew overhead of them as they moved away from the chariot.

 

The darkness here seemed to be something tangible, it was as though an immense city was fashioned from thick, black shadows, shadows that could only be made out by the harsh, uncompromising light that seemed to stem from nowhere at all.

 

Hades scowled at the winged creature. ‘Tisiphone, greet your Queen.’ He spoke with more volume and assertiveness than was his wont and Persephone had a blinding flash of insight as to _why._

 

The further from the sky that Hades went, the more his power and authority was tested. In her father Zeus’ palace he had barely raised his voice above a murmur...but she had instinctively appreciated his might hadn’t she? Here, in Tartarus he was surrounded by those who challenged him, souls and creatures whom he held here against their wills. _This_ was why Hades ruled this place. Was he, in fact, the only one of the three brothers who was able?

 

Persephone looked at her husband, with this new insight and for a moment understood him better than she ever had. There was much food for thought, once this duty was done, she would retreat to her willow grove and ponder all that she had learnt of him.

 

Tisiphone hurtled towards the ground (earth, it could not be called- not even Demeter could draw life from the miry tar of despair that served as a floor here) and prostrated herself before Queen Persephone. 

 

The Queen saw that the large, leathery wings were scaled with the still blooded fingernails of the fury’s victims, and quickly bade her lead on to the prisoners. Tisiphone shrieked a cry of death and sped off.

 

The royal pair made their way to the cell in which the prisoners were kept, bound in wicked chains. The light, Persephone noted, was not like the light from the great sun in Zeus’ sky, nor like the fiery ball that served the Underworld. It was a light that was beyond description in colour and intensity- she herself found it uncomfortable, Hades merely squinted his eyes against it- yet the captives before them seemed to be struck with the wildest agonies by it.

 

Theseus cried out, true desperation caused his voice to crack and waver.There was little resemblance now between the prowling King of Athens who had thrown a sack over her head and the broken, bleeding man on his knees.

 

‘O Queen! Have mercy! Please. I beg of you. _Mercy_ for foolish Theseus.’ He crawled towards her and reached out a hand to touch the sole of her foot. Hades stepped forward and swung down his heavy broadsword, cutting off the tips of the man’s fingers.

 

‘You have not learned your lesson then?’ he hissed,’That she is not to be touched? You are not worthy to look on her. If you do so again, I will command the furies to gouge out your eyeballs and roll them into the Styx.’

 

Theseus whimpered. ‘Your pardon, great King.’ He tried to turn his face away from the light and the goddess he had wronged. ‘What can I do? What must I promise? If anything _can_ be done, I will do it. Have pity on me!’ He whined and writhed on the floor as Alecto clawed, playfully, at his gushing fingers.

 

Persephone leaned into her husband, grateful for his strength. ‘Why does the light hurt them so?’ She asked. She found that there was a kind of strange pleasure to be had, in hearing the wretched man beg so humbly. 

 

Hades, one hand still holding his sword, did not take his dispassionate gaze from the pair of men that grovelled before him. ‘The light is truth. There is nothing so painful as being made to see everything, even oneself by its glow. Even we gods are not immune to its power. The condemned must face eternity unable to lie to themselves that they do not deserve their punishments.’ 

 

The truth. Perhaps that explained why she was so desperately clinging to Hades, whom she had professed to hate not so long ago. 

 

‘I see.’ Was all she said. It certainly explained a good deal about her husband. He was, unflinchingly,cruelly, honest, she supposed. He did not tell her pretty lies in order to placate her, he stated fact and reason and did so unapologetically. A god who so often had business in Tartarus would need such brutal veracity. It was even more of an explanation as to why he did not rule the sky nor the oceans- but instead took charge of this place of terror that both gods and mortals feared so.

 

Persephone, feeling her own power acutely, gestured to the waiting Fury to raise Pirithous up from the floor. She looked at his blood covered face, unsympathetic and utterly unafraid. He could not meet her eyes. Vindication was not a comfortable feeling, nor was it a relief.

 

‘You laid hands on me, Pirithous. I want to know why. You spoke of a worthy wife. Speak now of your unworthy ambitions.’ Her tone was softly laced with derision and the quivering wreck before her flinched at her question.

 

‘It was all a wager. Just a stupid, foolish _bet_. We were drunk, we spoke of finding wives who would show our fellow men that we were far better than they. Theseus...together we took Helen of Sparta, she is young and fated to be the loveliest of all mortal women. I wanted a daughter of Zeus...so I chose you. I was struck by your sweetness at your presentation...how very...innocent you were, I wanted to....’ The Queen held up her palm to halt his speech and he choked on the words he tried to force out. 

 

Hades pounced. He shot forward and grasping the Pirithous’ blood slicked hair in his hand, forced his neck back to breaking point. The man could not even gurgle his own blood, such was his agony. 

 

‘I could break your scrawny neck with one hand, o worthless Pirithous. I could end your life right now and spend eternity taking my revenge on you for your hubris. No god would speak for you, not one. Not even your exalted father.’ Hades drew back and spat in Pirithous’ face. ‘I shan’t yet, though.’ Hades smiled, a savage terrible smile. ‘Your manner of death shall be decided by her. The Queen of the Underworld will choose in what _manner_ your rotten thread of life will be snipped... and then,’ he paused with evident satisfaction, ’you will face my judgement. You like _bets_ , lapith? I will stake a wager with my wife that you will curse the mother that bore you by the time you cross the Styx, rather than face my wrath. What say you, my Queen?’

 

Persephone lowered her lashes. ‘I will take your wager, my Lord. I think he will rue that he was born long before then.’

 

Something dark and amorous sparkled in Hades gaze as he smiled on his wife. ‘Speak your judgement on these men then, Lady wife.’ Hades smiled.

 

Persephone raised her hands, she had thought much of this. ‘They must be taken to great Poseidon’s shore. Their bodies will harden and grow as dark as their hearts. They will become granite, able to feel and to think but unable to draw that next breath or to cry out their pain. The wind and the rain will bite into their bodies. Year by year the elements will eat at them until they perish into dust. A slow death, my Lord Hades...and an even _slower_ afterlife.’

 

Hades threw Pirithous to the floor. ‘So be it. It shall be done.’ Hades stood over the pair and watched as the curse crept from their feet, up twitching legs and into their torsos. It took but a moment before their faces were hardened into dark rock, their mouths still open as their last screams were frozen before they could end.

 

The furies flapped around the room, leaping a merry, macabre dance, before their claws scraped and dug into the stone arms of the condemned kings and lifted them up, carrying them off.

 

The weepings and wailings of the other inmates of Tartarus seemed quieter now to Persephone, once that sombre judgement was passed. Hades wiped the blade of his sword and sheathed it. 

 

‘I should like to go.’ she said. ‘Thank you for letting me come. I do not like it here, but...it was necessary.’ 

 

He led her out of Tartarus, with its harsh revealing light, and handed her back up to the chariot. She felt his breath on her neck as he steered the horses in the darkness, toward home. It did not trouble her, this intimacy. Tartarus had forced her to see him as he was, but so too did it make her see herself; and more importantly, what she could be.

 

She could be a Queen, a wife and a daughter and still be quintessentially herself. He would be a King and a husband, his role- his fearful destiny- did not define him, just as hers did not dictate her own character.

 

Her character was whatever she chose to make of it. 

 

Persephone turned her lips to Hades throat and felt him swallow convulsively. She would unravel him, this mysterious husband of hers. She would discover every facet of his being and she would come to glory in being the _only one in existence_ , who _could._


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine, this is completely un-beta'd, sorry!
> 
> If I named these chapters, this one would be called 'The quality of mercy.' I do like a bit of Shakespeare!

He did not take her directly back to the palace, instead, he guided the horses through the blissful fields of paradise towards Persephone's willow grove. His hands rested lightly on her waist as he lifted her down from the chariot and remained there as he looked down at her. She sagged against him.  
  
'How did you come to rule the Underworld, husband? Did you draw straws with your brothers, as the mortals say, and come here by chance? Tell me. I... _Tartarus_  it...'  
  
Hades smiled slightly at her, his face close to hers.  
  
'You need not explain, Persephone. I remember well the first time I went there.  It took me the rest of the day to recover. Once the Titans had been suppressed and chained in the deepest part of Tartarus, the world was left in chaos- there were no boundaries, neither between the sky and the ocean nor between life and death. The Fates told us to go together to Tartarus, so that the light of truth could show us who was best suited to rule.'  
  
Hades drew breath, and gently stroked his hands up the sides of her waist, and brought them to rest behind her shoulders. A slight tug and Persephone stumbled against him, strong arms closed around her like a vice and Hades spoke softly into her hair, continuing  his tale.  
  
'There is no hiding from the truth, you know. Zeus and Poseidon could not stand to be there for long. I did not find quite it so dreadful as they. The truth is a _comfort_  to me, it is one of the few absolutes we have as immortals- so much else changes. It is only this last visit, with you, that it caused me pain. Your endurance is commendable, by the way. I was... proud of you today. You are a true Queen, I saw that regality the very first time I laid eyes on you.’  
  
He took her hand and led her through the wood, to the very first tree she had made spring up from the barren earth. It seemed so very long ago, as though the child who had watered that delicate sapling with her bitter tears; had little to do with the cold woman who had issued a death sentence earlier. It did not discomfort her, although she was sure that her  mother would be horrified by the changes in her daughter (and likely blame Hades' influence!). She laid a gentle, loving hand on the bark of the drooping tree and glanced up to its canopy.  
  
She stilled. One of the branches gleamed silvery and dead in the gloam of the wood. Hades saw her looking and dropped her little hand.  
  
'Ah yes. That. I am afraid that was my doing, my dear. When I took you to Mount Olympus and saw you leave with your mother, leaving _me_ , I came here, intent on destroying all of it. I fear that, like my brethren, I mislike having my will crossed and my wishes disregarded- even by the Fates. I only got as far as killing that one branch before thinking better of it. Forgive me. I know this place is your refuge.'  
  
Persephone reached up a smooth skinned arm and touched the bough, it was solid silver. 'Did you seek to punish me, husband? By turning my sanctuary into a forest of cold, unliving statues? It is an odd reprimand to chose, surely.' She spoke quietly, gently, knowing that anger was surely an unwise response. She knew already that Hades yielded more to her when soothed rather than when challenged. He seemed unlike himself at this moment, standing so close to her and overtaken with self-reproach. The cold, icy authority that he wielded, so naturally, seemed dormant. The goddess took his hand, quietly enjoying his look of surprise. 'Tell me, husband. What altered your course? Why cease in destroying this place, once you had begun?'  
  
Hades' finger ghosted against her cheek and pensively dipped into the small furrow that creased her brow. 'This tree is the very one against which I stole your will from you. Do you remember? I...I have few regrets, my dear, those who have such qualms do not do well in Tartarus, after all- but I _sorely_ regret taking your will from you that day. The memory of it stayed my hand. It occurred to me that you had more reason to wish punishment on me than I you.'  
  
Oh. She had been carefully watching his face. The sincerity of remorse animated his features. Persephone glanced back up to the silver bough, it was certainly very pretty- it would remain so forever, unchanging and constant, unlike the trees that would wilt and perish. It was rather fitting.  
  
She could not lie to him, not after having faced the deceit she had been practicing on herself, not after Tartarus. ‘I remember.’ Her voice trembled. ‘You said that you wanted something that I had not given you, all I could think was that you had taken everything...until I could not _think_  at all.’  
  
He heaved a sigh. ‘Forgive me. I am sorry.’ She did not relish this power she had over him, not in the same way she had fairly bloomed with satisfaction in her power over Pirithous and Theseus. She pitied him. Persephone brought tender fingertips up to his solemn countenance.  
  
‘I think you mistake me, Hades. You awoke something in me that day that I cannot regret. You were right, in a way, I was cold to you- it was all I knew until I kissed you then. When you took me back to mother, my mind was still in this grove, against this tree trying to resist begging you to make me feel that _alive_  again.’ Surprise now replaced the remorse on his face and something else crept into his eyes, something Persephone knew to be hope. ‘It was not until later, this very day- in fact, that I admitted this to myself. What you did, in tricking me- making me eat that pomegranate... _that_  was wrong, but I do not regret that moment in this wood.’  
  
His eyes had closed against the caress of her fingers upon his cheek, but he opened them when she finished speaking. ‘I will beg your pardon for that instead, then, my Queen. That piece of trickery was beneath me, it was inspired by desperation- but it affected you deeply. I am sorry for it. I am even sorrier that it caused you to hate me.’  
  
‘Then you have my pardon, my Lord.’  
  
‘It cannot be so easily given.’ he grimaced.  
  
‘If forgiveness is mine to give, then I shall issue it as I chose.’ said the Queen, firmly. ‘You have asked for my absolution, sir- why so surprised that I should offer it?’  
  
A wordless expression of sheer frustration escaped King Hades’ lips. ‘It _ought_  not be so easy as that, Persephone. You should command a great deed or impossible quest of me, you should ask for my most treasured possession...anything, your pardon is too _precious_  to be simply given at the asking. I cannot believe my deceit to be forgiven, not without having _earnt_  it.  
  
‘Can it be earned? Surely it is the more valuable for being undeserved.’ She kissed him, quickly on his astonished lips. ‘I forgive you, husband. What is done cannot be undone, your ill deeds against me have _changed_  me but not necessarily for the worse. I am Persephone, I am Kore. There is no difference, not within.’  
  
Hades turned away from her, quite overcome. When he turned back to her, his hands were trembling.  
  
He dropped to his knees before her and for a moment she felt afraid for him. His distress was so very great.  
  
‘Command me.’  
  
My Lord?’  
  
His head was bowed and his hands reached out to the backs of her knees. ‘Command me. I am your supplicant. I beg you to make some request of me.’  
  
In an instant, Persephone was transported back to her first time in Hades’ throne room. On her knees before him she had made the gesture of supplication that had gone unheeded. Her heart beat loudly in her chest.  
  
‘Husband, please do get up. This isn’t...its not necessary. I forgive you freely. There is nothing you could possibly do to make amends so let us regard the matter as closed. Please.’  
  
‘I _know_  it isn’t necessary. I believe you when you say that <i>think</i> you forgive me but...I want to do your bidding. Do you believe that such mercy as you have shown me can change a man? Can you understand what you have done?’ He seemed to struggle to take a great gulping breath, and did not rise from his position of humility, but raised a hand to her arm. ‘I have never shown mercy, Persephone. If I allow a soul to escape justice then it is always with a hefty price. I am undone...you have destroyed me.’  
  
Alarmed now, and utterly confused, Persephone crouched down beside him, burying her fingers in the ground, almost as habit. New green shoots sprung up, their odor fresh and sweet. ‘Hades. My husband. I do not think I can understand. How should forgiveness be so very distressing to you? Help me comprehend this!’  
  
‘I have always despised pity, my beloved. I had none to spare, neither for myself nor for any other. I had none for _you_  when I took you from the meadow. I wanted you, so I _took_  you. I felt so affected by you at your presentation that I decided then and there that you would be mine. I gave no thought for your gentle heart, that it would grieve more for Demeter’s anxiety than for your own _imprisonment_.’  he spat out the last word. Loathing resounded from his every word. ‘I stand for iron justice, my queen. My very nature is unbending. When I pass judgement on the souls of mortals, no pity- no compassion, is present. I have wronged you, Persephone- it is all the more abhorrent because you were undeserving of it, nothing but sweetness and grace ever crossed your path before me. I do not see that it is possible for you to forgive me _that_.’  
  
She listened in silence at his great outpouring and when he was done, wound her arms around his neck as they knelt in the dirt together. The shades of the Underworld did not venture to her wood, which was fortunate, she thought, since there was little majestic or powerful about its King and Queen crouching, like children by a tree. She was glad of it, that this moment of raw honesty was all hers. She shrouded the wood in shadow and guarded the intimacy with jealousy.  
  
‘Oh Hades.’ she whispered. ‘Am I still Kore to you then? A mere girl, unable to discern when she has been wronged and so thus unable to forgive you? I am more than that, my lord. You have caused me to be more than that. It isn’t...you need not tell me that you behaved wrongly. I know it. I bore the consequences of it, I even despised you for it- briefly.’ she added when he flinched. ‘Shall we journey back to Tartarus, husband? So that I can tell you in the light of truth, with not a trace of falsehood, that you are pardoned?’ The slightest trace of humour found its way into her inflection as she concluded, ‘I should prefer not to, you know, it isn’t the pleasantest spot I have ever visited...but I _shall_  if you continue to do me the discredit of thinking that I lie. My forgiveness is a gift to you, dear husband. If you wish to do me some service...then you may show mercy to the next mortal soul that asks for it, but _my_  mercy is free.’  
  
The scent of the new mint, so fresh and clean, wafted about them.  
  
Her King did not respond in words, he only embraced her in return as they sat in the silence together. The pair remained entwined, together, for a long while and Persephone’s limbs had long since gone stiff with disuse when Hades at last broke the companionable silence.  
  
‘I thank you, then.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well now, it looks like we are winding down. It is possible that the next chapter will be the last. It depends on whether or not I get everything necessary into it. Thank you, once again to those of you who leave comments, your words cheer me up so much! I have posted 11 chapters of this now, and I think the panic that no one will like it has only gotten worse! 
> 
> I am not going to apologise for how 'easily' Persephone forgives Hades, he may have _deserved_ to suffer, but forgiveness like that can and has changed people for the better. If we all got what we deserved, with no forgiveness or mercy...we'd be in a very sorry state, I think.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Monster Author Note Alert!*
> 
> This last chapter is four and half thousand words, its a long one! 
> 
> Thank you, thank you and thank you to all you wonderful readers who have left me encouragement. It means so much, you almost bring me to tears with your kindness. 
> 
> I would like to dedicate this chapter to the beautiful MarquesadeSantos who has been so encouraging. :) 
> 
> Also. If I may indulge in a little self advertisment? http://archiveofourown.org/works/678890/chapters/1244053 This will take you to my ORIGINAL STORY which I am now posting. If you liked my writing and want to read a bit more, please go over there and enjoy. It's had even less footfall than I expected Blossoming to have (though you all surprised me!) and I would love to hear your thoughts on my special 'baby.'
> 
> Ok. Read on! :)

Persephone was true to the promise she had made to herself, in the course of the six months she spent with Hades, she exerted herself to understand him better. In private, he was more open than she had seen him elsewhere, and his devotion to her comfort and happiness was extremely gratifying. He seemed to _gradually_ accept that she bore him no ill will, and every so often a lightness was plain to see in his eyes when they rested upon her face. She ruled by his side each passing day and there was much to be done, for Demeter's winter above the earth, was a harsh one, many mortals had perished. 

Persephone knew full well that Demeter, although in awe of him, had despised Hades in the past, on account of his apparent disregard for the lives of the weaker beings that populated the world. It was not lost on her that her mother, who had so carefully raised her to cherish every living thing, was bent on a path of destruction. Hades deserved his fearsome reputation, it was evident- but so too did Demeter earn the one that she was surely making for herself.

The Queen herself, heard whispers of the stories being told about her, Orpheus had kept his word to _her_ at least and wave upon wave of wandering souls pitied her for a while - until she passed judgement on them, and they saw the steely adherence to _duty_ in Hades' beautiful Queen. She asked her husband, after having dismissed yet another plea for mercy from a grief stricken widow, what had happened to the gifted bard and his unfortunate wife.

Hades grimaced. 'He disregarded the rules, and looked back. Eurydice was returned to her destiny. They will meet again in death.'

There was no flinching from the truth, not as Hades' consort. 

Persephone sighed. 'Tis a pity. He had enough devotion, but not enough faith and courage. His wife must face the double disappointment of returning here and having a husband who lacks the necessary resolution to keep her. Perhaps their reunion will be the sweeter for the separation.'

Hades looked thoughtful, as he beckoned forth the next shade to be judged. 'As will ours, my Lady? Hephaestus' gift to you shows that your departure is soon, the mortals will feel the bounty of the earth again and it is _this_ realm that will be in want of Springtime.’

Persephone felt wistful. ‘I shall return, my Lord. In terms of eternity, half a year is not so very long. I...I shall miss you above all, I think.’ She added, hesitantly. He had taken much persuading of her forgiveness, he was unlikely to accept that he held him in some considerable affection and esteem.

Hades grimaced again. ‘You will take my very heart with you, Lady wife, when you return to the world above. Will you return it to me when you come back, I wonder? Every moment out of your company seems an agonizing eon to me. I dread your departure, even as much as the mortals fear death. If Hades is to love his wife, then the Underworld will offer no comfort whilst you are gone.’

Persephone’s breath rushed out of her and tears blossomed. ‘I shall return. Springtime _must_ be brought to the mortals, if my mother’s cruel curse on the land were to go unbroken, what would become of us? Would this noble court crumble and break when there were no more mortals to come hither for judgement? I shall return to _you_ my husband. Each day that I am with you, I feel more and more, how much I _could_ love you and how much I will cherish you as the ages roll on. Perhaps our time apart will leave me as desolate as it will you, I cannot yet tell.’

Hades stared at her and was did not reply until they heard the case of the soul before them. A pleasant judgement to be passed, the child had passed an innocent, unerring life and was destined for Elysium.

His love shone from his dark eyes when he turned back to Persephone, as bright and as precious to her as any jewel to be found in the earth. Hades caught her hand to his lips. ‘You will _love_ me then, little wife? Even apart from me, shall you think of me often?’ his voice quivered, but he held himself in check. ‘Only think of me with a little fondness and smile at me like that every so often and if my kingdom _does_ fade and my power desert me, I shall have lived a fulfilled and joyous existence.’

Persephone startled, wove her fingers into his hair, uncaring of the shades that drifted in the throne room. ‘Do you think it possible, Hades? That we can simply cease to be?’

He immediately leaned into her touch, with a small sound of contentment. ‘Fret not, my dear. We shall have long grown weary of this order before it ends, as everything must.’

It was too strange a thought for his wife, who wrapped her arms around him, seeking comfort before the pair rose as one and wended their way to the shores of the river Styx.

Time passed and all too soon the time for her to return above the earth arrived. Hephaestus’ orb seemed to glow brighter as the lights within met. Persephone looked anxiously to her husband’s saddened countenance. It was not necessarily that his expressions had become more easily read, but rather with each moment of closeness she understood him better. Her heart ached for him, for his loneliness even as she wished to see her mother once more.

He took her to the entrance to the Underworld himself, saying nothing, merely holding her hand with such quiet solemnity that she could not but weep. He kissed her tears away and uttered a husky farewell. 

‘Think of me, Persephone, when you light up the world above. Think of me, cast into darkness without you.’

She nodded, unable to speak. A lump caught in her throat that she could not swallow down. She walked out into the, too bright, sunlight and could not bring herself to look back for fear that she would break her poor mother’s heart by begging to remain with him. She did not consider the state of her own, for if she did she might go mad with confusion.

Demeter met her, some way away from the slopes, beneath which she had said goodbye to the dark Hades. Her mother wept openly on her daughter’s shoulder, Persephone looked about her in damp eyed dismay at the frosty, _desolate_ earth. The lush greenery was gone, the world above looked exactly as she had supposed the Underworld might look, when she had been a child and prone to such imaginings. She pressed her mouth into a thin line of disapproval, it was an expression that had recently had the court of the Underworld quailing in fear- though it brought a gleam of amusement to somber Hades’ dark eyes.

She shook of that train of thought, a curious tightness in her chest at the thought of her husband.

‘I am with you once more, my mother. Now let there be bounty and beauty on the earth again. Let there be no more suffering for the innocent mortals. Come, show me your lovely crops and flowers.’

Demeter felt her daughter’s reproach, gently worded though it was and frowned. ‘You look entirely grown up, my girl. If only you had remained the adorable child you were before you were wrested from me!’ She sighed, pitifully. ‘Very well, I shall bless the world once more. There will be a glorious harvest, bountiful enough that if the people are _careful_ it will last them throughout the expression of my sorrow. They must carefully store up their grain, as I shall carefully keep my moments of happiness with you. Take off that crown, my love- I will weave flowers into your hair.’

Persephone shook her head. ‘I will keep the crown, my dear mother, but would be glad to see bright blooms in your locks- you do not look half so much like Demeter without them.’

‘Oh very well then.’ grumbled Demeter, good naturedly and set about bringing life to the dead ground beneath them. Helios shone warmly down upon them in approval.

Very soon the dryads and the nymphs came out from their secret places, rejoicing in the return of the younger goddess. Very soon there was laughter and dancing about her as she was greeted by her erstwhile companions. Persephone stood in the midst of them, quietly dignified as they frolicked and commented on her sober manner and lovely clothes. She was not unhappy precisely, but the months ahead of her seemed looming and long and the ache in her heart became stronger and sharper at the thought of such a long separation from _him_.

It did not escape Demeter that her daughter was thus subdued. At first she attributed it to left over unhappiness from being away from the meadow for so long, but when her melancholy seemed to grow stronger as the time passed she knew that it could not be the sole reason. Her daughter’s appetite was affected and although she daintily picked over the food that was offered, very little was actually eaten. It pained Demeter to see her child unhappy and she redoubled her efforts in entertaining and feeding her.

In truth, the only thing that really seemed to please her majesty was the sight of nature growing and blooming about them. Seeing Demeter fulfilling her duty brought pleasure to Persephone’s eyes, even as she thought wistfully of her own duty as Hades’ consort that was being neglected as she did _nothing_ with her mother. Her brow furrowed when it occurred to her that Hades, when he took her to Olympus, had been right- absolutely right. It was not natural for her to be torn between her life as a maiden and that of a wife. She was surely the only one, goddess or mortal, who was so divided. 

One day in late summer, the King of the Underworld visited the meadow as she sat with Demeter among the dancing poppies. The pair of them had been weaving lilies into braids for amusement. The days work was done, the trees bowed under the weight of heavy fruit, the barley and wheat grains were swelled with ripeness and mortals scurried about trying to gather it all in.

They heard the rumbling of his horses hooves beneath the ground and _this_ time Persephone knew what was afoot, especially in conjunction with her mother's spluttering outrage- uttering her husbands name like it was a curse when his chariot rent the ground in two.

A darkly amused gleam appeared in Persephone's eyes as she considered that _his_ name was not so much of a curse as _hers_ was and did he absolutely have to rile up his sister even further by leaving a great gaping hole in the ground? The grass still would not grow over the spot where he had last come above ground, from. Demeter did not speak of it, but Persephone had seen her standing there- scowling in concentration with her bare feet sunk deep into the ground, but still no grass would grow.

He left his horses some distance away and stood a little way off just looking at her. Demeter stormed over to him, ire flashing in her eyes- she looked magnificent and intimidating but Hades just stood still, watching. He did not even deign to glance at her until she addressed him.

'It is not yet time for your turn, _Lord Hades_. You are not welcome in my meadow.' Persephone's eyebrows rose slightly at Demeters blatant disrespect and she stood from her spot and padded gracefully over to them. 

'I need no welcome from _you_ in order to see my _wife_ , Demeter.' His voice was quiet, soft and smooth, but so sinister that Demeter gulped.

'It isn't your turn!' She sounded so petulant that Persephone stifled a laugh, it was a tone of voice that she had heard all too often from disgruntled mortals, who had been judged according to their actions and misliked the results. Their displeasure never made any difference to Hades.

'Mother.' She said softly, 'I hardly mind. The Fates put no such sanctions on us that I cannot speak to either of you whilst the other has me.'

Demeter whipped around to face her daughter, rage and disappointment turning her lovely features twisted and ugly. She opened her mouth to vent her anger at her daughter and then closed it again hurriedly when powerful Hades raised his hand to still her tirade before it even began. Demeter's shoulders sagged. 

'I will finish the lilies then.' She muttered, and stalked off.

Persephone reached for Hades' hand, smiling. 'What brings you, husband?' She asked.

'I thought perhaps, you might like to know of a promise fulfilled.' He said quietly, his eyes were soft as he looked into hers. He leant forward and breathed in the fresh scent of spring that engulfed her. 'You asked me to grant mercy to the next one that asked it of me. Heracles, son of Zeus, journeyed down to our palace and pleaded for the life of Theseus, King of Athens. I granted it. Pirithous, of course, remains.'

Persephone digested this, blinking. Hades did not rush her, simply playing idly with a smooth curl by twisting it around his finger. 'I thank you then, I suppose. It cannot have been an easy promise to keep. It is unfortunate that the first request for mercy came for one who has injured us. Nevertheless, it was well done of you. Heracles will remember it. Thank you for coming so far to tell me... I am glad to see you.' 

And she _was_. The aching, empty feeling that had pervaded her heart since she had left him, had gone. In its place was something akin to the joy she felt when a new flower blossomed and spread open its petals to the sunlight. It was not love, not in the romantic sense that Aphrodite advocated and Zeus abused- but perhaps she did care for him, as a wife ought to care for her husband. 

It was time to take responsibility for the course of her own life. 

'Hades.' She said, and he looked up from his engrossment with the twist of dark hair around his fourth finger. 'What...' she felt so nervous and awkward, 'would you be...’ she stopped and tried again, ‘When the summer ends, I should like to end this ridiculous business of my life being split in two.' She expelled out a breath once she had said it, pleased to have it out in the open.

The large hand that played with her hair stilled. The ground about Hades feet turned black and withered. Death spread outward in a circle about them, ever widening until the blooms in Demeters hands shrivelled up, causing her to drop them in alarm. Persephone held her breath, not comprehending the bleakness in Hades, now lifted, gaze.

'Hades! Please cease! I thought you'd be _pleased_.'

He seemed unreachable for a moment, so dreadful and stern that Persephone's courage was sorely tested to even speak to him. At her honest words and earnest look, he flicked his finger and the destruction stopped, leaving the King and Queen standing in the centre of a perfect circle of withered nature. Demeter stood on the edge of the circle, either unwilling or unable to step foot into it.

Hades took his wife's face in both palms and made her look at him square in the eye. He looked both afraid and ready to do battle. She twisted in his grasp, freeing herself and pulled his lips down to hers. 

He gasped out, in between kisses, 'I suppose you did not mean that as I interpreted it.’ He held her gently, slightly away from him so that he could watch her expression and asked, 'Do you _mean_ to say, that when you come home to me, that it will be forever?' At her nod, he smiled, palpably relieved, and Persephone marvelled at it. 'I adore you, Persephone.'

'Yes,' she replied, seriously, 'I know it. I...am not happy when you are not by, Hades. These few months ought to have been joyous for me, but instead my chest has ached at the very thought of you, as if it is empty and is longing to be filled again. I want to be a good wife to you, to make you happy, to be a good Queen- I think I can be, I will certainly try.' She blushed when he brushed her mouth gently with a finger, hushing her. She knew she was in danger of babbling.

'But you do not know if you _love_ me? My little love, if you feel all _this_ for me, I shall count myself blessed. If one day you can bring yourself to name it in the same way as others would, then I am doubly fortunate. There is no hurry, Persephone. If you are to choose to live with me, the kingdom will celebrate rapturously for days, for weeks, on end.'

She did not notice the tears tracing her way down her cheeks until her husband brushed them away with the back of his hand. 'You will not mind if I come to see my mother often?'

He let out a breath. 'Mind? How should I mind, knowing that you have chosen me? You are free to come and go as you please, my love- I don't imagine Demeter will look favourably on this new arrangement- but perhaps if you visit frequently, she will understand that I'll not keep you apart, not now.' He stooped a little to kiss her brow, 'You may have anything and everything you desire, my Queen, I swear it.' 

'You will spoil me then, I will become unbearable.' She ventured a tease, pleased when she saw an answering glint in his eye.

'Oh no, I do not think it possible, Lady wife. To remain unspoilt is in your nature, it is part of your charm and character. Even if I were shower you with jewels and all the riches of the earth, I know, full well, that you will remain as you are.' 

He drew a finger to her nape and traced a path around her throat, he made a low pleased hum in his throat when her breath quickened and she leant forward to kiss him once more. 

'A moment', he murmured softly in her ear, 'your mother is rapidly working herself into a rage, I must be gone soon. I can wait with more patience now, knowing that you wish to be with me.'

When he lifted his finger from the skin of her neck, Persephone felt a cold weight resting there. A collar of diamonds and gold wound their way in a perfect circle about her slender throat. Satisfaction practically oozed from him and his wife could not help but chuckle when his hands went to her waist and he crushed his mouth to hers.

They bade a fond, passionate, farewell and Persephone felt a good deal lighter of heart than she had at their last parting. She made her way back to Demeter, who knelt in the dirt, steadily coaxing life up from the dead ground. Persephone stooped to aid her, silently causing a clump of purple heather to spring forth. 

'I hope he will not visit here often, my daughter.' Said the goddess of the crops, dryly. 'The affect on my meadow is _quite_ devastating. 

Looking about her, Persephone nodded her head in agreement. At least this time plants could grow again in the cursed soil. 

'He will have no cause to, mother.' She said quietly, watching Demeter's face change as she comprehended her meaning.

Demeter took her hands out from the soil and knelt up. 'You have chosen him, then? Over me?' Her mother's eyes were glassy with tears, but they did not fall.

'Only so far as that I chose to be a wife to him over this _half life_ that I am living. I will always be your daughter, always love you and bless you for having given me life. I will visit you often, even in the winter time. I can come when I please. Hades...he is very generous, Mother.'

Demeter flicked her earthy fingers to the priceless diamonds about the young woman's neck and raised a brow. 'So I see.'

'I don't mean like that, dear one. I mean, he promises that I shall do as I please- he wants my happiness above all things.'

'He didn't care for that when he tore you away from me! He didn't even think of it.' Exclaimed Demeter.

Persephone dug her hands into the ground again and watched as mint sprung up vigorously at her urging. 'Do you not believe that people can change, mother? That experience and regret can alter a man?'

'Not _him_ , not _us_! We do not change. We are immortal, some things ought to stay unaltered.' It was grief that brought the frown to Demeter's face, it was plain to see. Persephone saw the lie for what it was, living with Hades had given her a distaste for dishonesty, even if it _was_ unconscious.

'But you _have_ , haven't you, Mother?' Her voice was hard and disapproving. 'You, who were so dedicated to your duty, but now will allow the innocent to starve to death on account of caprice. It was not _they_ that changed things, the mortals have no say in such things, why make them suffer? Why send them to judgement in Hades' Realm?'

Demeter gaped at her and flinched when Persephone regally lifted her chin. Even without her crown and throne, her daughter was a Queen, Demeter saw it and averted her gaze in submission. 

The Queen of the Underworld continued on as though the dynamic between mother and daughter had not just subtly, permanently, shifted. 

'Whatever you may believe, we are all capable of change whether it be for the better or for worse. Hades has remained as he is for eons, why should he not alter- even in the slightest sense, in order to please me?'

'When will you go?' Demeter wept.

'When Hephaestus' orb shows that it is my time to return to the Underworld. We have the rest of the summer. I will visit often, throughout the winter...perhaps you will allow the mortals some respite, knowing that it will not be so very long before I next see you.'

Demeter nodded. 'Yes...perhaps.' At one time, Persephone would have launched herself into her mother's arms at this concession, but now she remained slightly apart, a distance had grown between them- both women were aware of it, but it did not feel unnatural.

Demeter busied herself with the soil again. Rosemary grew at her behest, sweet and fragrant. 'Hephaestus wanted to court you, you know. He asked me immediately after your presentation. It would have been a good match, he doesn't have Hades' rank, of course...but he is a kind man. I rejected him outright and not in pleasant terms. It strikes me now that things would have been so different if I had asked you, if I had allowed you to grow up.'

'I was not destined to be his wife, mother- you heard the Fates as well as I. Things are as they ought to be. Besides, from what I understand you were not the only one to depress his pretentions to my hand. Hades had already decided he would have me.' She waved her hands expressively toward the heavy jewels around her neck and the subject was closed.

The two women turned their complete attention to repairing the extensive damage to the meadow.

The rest of the summer was peaceful, Demeter clearly tried to come to terms with the realisation that her little girl was now a grown woman, and a powerful one at that. Persephone in turn did not begrudge her mother her wistful tears that came often. Together they revisited their happiest memories, Demeter told Persephone the tale of her birth and reluctantly answered her questions about her romance with Zeus.

At the time the lights crossed in the, henceforth useless, orb, Demeter walked with her child and companions to the edge of the River Styx. They bedecked Persephone in the robes of a bride, with flowers woven into her hair. It was not a wedding, that moment had already passed, but Demeter wished to demonstrate to her daughter, more than anyone, that her love was as eternal as her heart. Hades stood on the far shore, watching the procession with curiosity. 

His Queen, with a fond kiss to her mother's dewy cheek, stepped onto the boat. It dipped slightly, riding lower in the water with her weight. Charon, his pole held loosely in skeletal hands, watched her from beneath a tattered cowl.

Persephone tilted her head imperiously towards him. 'Well then, boatman. Carry me across. My Lord Husband awaits me. I am anxious to return home.'

She saw the slight tremble of his fingers before he gripped the pole and pushed it into the murky water. She hid her smile by turning back towards the shore behind her and raising her fingers in farewell to her mother. She had no regrets behind her and an abundance of hope ahead of her.

When she looked back to the shore ahead, she found that she could not look away. Hades stood tall and proud, the light from the Nether-sun behind him casting his face into shadow. She did not need to see his face clearly in order to know that there was a lurking smile in his eyes.

All was quiet, save for the lapping of the water against the wooden craft and the occasional soft thud of Charon's pole hitting a rock on the river bed. 

Very soon, the whole realm would be filled with noise and celebration, Hades had decreed it. This time there would be no division of food, nor of heart. 

The boat came to a halt on the black sandy shore and King Hades stepped forward to take her hand, assisting to alight. 

She curtseyed, he bowed... and Persephone was _home_.

**Author's Note:**

> You get points for spotting the Austen and Heyer quotes. 
> 
> If you enjoyed reading this, let me know! If you disliked it, don't bother telling me, please...we'll just pretend you haven't wasted 10 minutes precious reading time.


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